Two Years in the Forbidden City
by Princess Der Ling · English · Gutenberg #889 · 509,788 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Two Years in the Forbidden City
Author: Princess Der Ling
Release date: April 1, 1997 [eBook #889]
Most recently updated: August 6, 2008
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/889
Credits: Produced by Charles Keller for Sarah, and by David Widger
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO YEARS IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY ***
Produced by Charles Keller for Sarah
TWO YEARS IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY
By The Princess Der Ling
First Lady In Waiting To The Empress Dowager
TO
MY BELOVED FATHER
LORD YU KENG
FOREWORD
THE author of the following narrative has peculiar qualifications for
her task. She is a daughter of Lord Yu Keng, a member of the Manchu
White Banner Corps, and one of the most advanced and progressive Chinese
officials of his generation. Lord Yu Keng entered the army when very
young, and served in the Taiping rebellion and the Formosan war with
France, and as Vice Minister of War during the China-Japan war in 1895.
Later he was Minister to Japan, which post he quitted in 1898 to become
President of the Tsung-li-yamen (Chinese Foreign Office). In 1899 he was
appointed Minister to France, where he remained four years. At a period
when the Chinese Government was extremely conservative and reactionary,
Lord Yu Keng labored indefatigably for reform. He was instrumental
in reorganizing China's postal service on modern lines, but failed in
efforts to revise the revenue system and modernize the army and navy,
from being ahead of his times. He died in 1905. The progressive spirit
of Lord Yu Keng was shown in the education of his children. When it
became known that his daughters were receiving a foreign education--then
an almost unheard--of proceeding among high Manchu officials-attempts
were made to impeach him as pro-foreign and revolutionary, but he was
not deterred. His children got their early education in missionary
schools, and the daughters later attended a convent in France, where
the author of this work finished her schooling and entered society.
On returning to China, she became First Lady-in-Waiting to the Empress
Dowager, and while serving at the Court in that capacity she received
the impressions which provide the subject-matter of this book.
Her opportunity to observe and estimate the characteristics of the
remarkable woman who ruled China for so long was unique, and her
narrative throws a new light on one of the most extraordinary
personalities of modern times. While on leave from her duties to attend
upon her father, who was fatally ill in Shanghai, Princess Der Ling took
a step which terminated connexion with the Chinese Court. This was
her engagement to Mr. Thaddeus C. White, an American, to whom she was
married on May 21, 1907. Yielding to the urgent solicitation of friends,
she consented to put some of her experiences into literary form, and
the following chronicle, in which the most famous of Chinese women, the
customs and atmosphere of her Court are portrayed by an intimate of the
same race, is a result.
THOMAS F. MILLARD.
SHANGHAI, July 24, 1911.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTORY
II. AT THE PALACE
III. A PLAY AT THE COURT
IV. A LUNCHEON WITH THE EMPRESS
V. AN AUDIENCE WITH THE EMPRESS
VI. IN ATTENDANCE ON HER MAJESTY
VII. SOME INCIDENTS OF THE COURT
VIII. THE COURT LADIES
IX. THE EMPEROR KWANG HSU
X. THE YOUNG EMPRESS
XI. OUR COSTUMES
XII. THE EMPRESS AND MRS. CONGER
XIII. THE EMPRESS'S PORTRAIT
XIV. THE EMPEROR'S BIRTHDAY
XV. THE MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
XVI. THE SUMMER PALACE
XVII. THE AUDIENCE HALL
XVIII. THE NEW YEAR FESTIVALS
XIX. THE SEA PALACE
XX. CONCLUSION
TWO YEARS IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY
MY father and mother, Lord and Lady Yu Keng, and family, together with
our suite consisting of the First Secretary, Second Secretary, Naval
and Military Attaches, Chancellors, their families, servants,
etc.,--altogether fifty-five people,--arrived in Shanghai on January 2,
1903, on the S.S. "Annam" from Paris, where for four years my father
had been Chinese Minister. Our arrival was anything but pleasant, as the
rain came down in torrents, and we had the greatest difficulty getting
our numerous retinue landed and safely housed, not to mention the tons
of baggage that had to be looked after. We had found from previous
experience that none of our Legation people or servants could be
depended upon to do anything when travelling, in consequence of which
the entire charge devolved upon my mother, who was without doubt
the genius of the party in arranging matters and straightening out
difficulties.
When the launch from the steamer arrived at the jetty off the French
Bund, we were met by the Shanghai Taotai (the highest official in the
city), the Shanghai Magistrate and numerous other officials, all dressed
in their official robes. The Taotai told my father that he had prepared
the Tien Ho Gung (Temple of the Queen of Heaven) for us to reside in
during our stay in Shanghai, but my father refused the offer, saying
that he had telegraphed from Hong Kong and made all arrangements to go
to the Hotel des Colonies in the French Concession. We had had previous
experience staying in this temple while on our way to Japan, where my
father went as Minister in 1895, and did not care to try it a second
time. The building is very old and very much out of repair. It was a
beautiful place in its prime, but had been allowed to go to rack and
ruin. The custom is that the magistrate has to find a place and supply
the food, etc., for high officials when passing through, and it is not
exactly the thing to refuse their kind offer, but my father was always
very independent and politely declined all proffers of assistance.
At last we did safely arrive in the Hotel des Colonies, where my
father found awaiting him two telegrams from the Imperial Palace. These
telegrams ordered my father to go to Peking at once, but, as the river
to Tientsin was frozen, it was out of the question for us to go by that
route, and as my father was very old and quite ill at that time, in
fact constantly under the doctor's care, the only accessible way, via
Chinwangtao, was equally out of the question, as it was a long and most
tedious journey and quite beyond his strength. In view of all these
difficulties, he telegraphed that, after the ice had broken up in the
Peiho River, we would come by the first steamer leaving Shanghai for
Tientsin.
We left Shanghai on the 22d of February and arrived at Tientsin on the
26th, and, as before, were met by the Customs Taotai of the port and
numerous other officials (the same as when we arrived at Shanghai).
There is a very curious custom of reverence, which must be performed by
all high officials on their return from abroad. Immediately upon landing
on the shores of China, arrangements are made with the nearest Viceroy
or Governor to receive their obeisance to Ching Sheng An (to worship the
Emperor of Peace), a Taotai being considered of too low a rank for such
an honor. As soon as we arrived, Yuan Shih Kai, who was then Viceroy of
Chihli Province at Tientsin, sent an official to my father to prepare
the time and place for this function, which is an extremely pretty
one. When arrangements had been made, both my father and Yuan Shih Kai
dressed in their full ceremonial robes, which is the dragon long robe,
with a reddish black three-quarter length coat over it, chao chu (amber
beads), hat with peacock feather and red coral button, and repaired at
once to the Wan Shou Kung (10,000 years palace), which is especially
built for functions of this kind, where they were met by a large number
of officials of the lower grades. At the back centre of this Temple, or
Palace, stands a very long narrow table on which are placed the tablets
of the Emperor and Empress Dowager, on which is written, "Wan sway, wan
sway, wan wan sway" (10,000 years times 10,000 years times 10,000
10,000 years). The Viceroy, or in this case Yuan Shih Kai, and the other
officials arrived first. Yuan stood at the left side of this table and
the others arranged themselves in two diminishing lines starting from
the front corners of the table. Soon afterward my father came and knelt
directly in front of the centre of the table and said, "Ah ha Ching
Sheng An" (Your servant gives you greeting). After this ceremony was
over my father immediately arose and inquired after Their Majesties'
health, and Yuan replied that they were quite well. This closed the
function.
We stayed in Tientsin for three days, arriving in Peking on the
twenty-ninth. My father's condition was much worse and he begged for
four months' leave of absence, in which to recuperate, which was granted
by Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager. As our beautiful mansion, which we
had built and furnished just before leaving for Paris, was burned during
the Boxer Rising of 1900, entailing a loss of over taels 100,000, we
rented and moved into a Chinese house. Our old house was not entirely
new. When we bought the place there was a very fine but old Chinese
house, the palace of a Duke, standing on the ground, and by some clever
re-arrangement and building on, it was transformed into a beautiful
foreign style house with all the fine hardwood carving of the old house
worked into it. By using the words "foreign style," it is meant that, in
so far as the Chinese house could be made to look like a foreign house,
without tearing it down entirely, it was changed, that is the doors
and windows, passageways, furnishings, etc., were foreign, but the
arrangement of the house itself and courtyard was Chinese. This, like
all Chinese houses in Peking, was built in a very rambling fashion,
and with the gardens, covered about ten acres of ground. We had just
finished furnishing it and moved in only four days when we left for
Paris; and it has always been a great sorrow to my family that we should
lose this magnificent place, after having spent so much time and money
in building and beautifying it. However, this is only one of the many
trials that a high official in China is called upon to bear.
The houses in Peking are built in a very rambling fashion, covering a
large amount of ground, and our former house was no exception to the
rule. It had sixteen small houses, one story high, containing about 175
rooms, arranged in quadrangles facing the courtyard, which went to make
up the whole; and so placed, that without having to actually go out of
doors, you could go from one to the other by verandas built along the
front and enclosed in glass. My reader will wonder what possible use
we could make of all of these rooms; but what with our large family,
numerous secretaries, Chinese writers, messengers, servants, mafoos
(coachmen), and chair coolies, it was not a difficult task to use them.
The gardens surrounding the houses were arranged in the Chinese way,
with small lakes, stocked with gold fish, and in which the beautiful
lotus flower grew; crossed by bridges; large weeping willows along the
banks; and many different varieties of flowers in prettily arranged
flower beds, running along winding paths, which wound in and out between
the lakes. At the time we left for Paris, in the month of June, 1899,
the gardens were a solid mass of flowers and foliage, and much admired
by all who saw them.
As we now had no place of our own in Peking we did not know where to
go, so, while we were at Tientsin, my father telegraphed to one of his
friends to find him a house. After some little trouble one was secured,
and it turned out to be a very famous place indeed. It was the house
where Li Hung Chang signed the treaties with the Foreign Powers after
the Boxer Rising and also where he died. We were the first people to
live there since the death of Li Hung Chang, as the Chinese people were
very superstitious and were afraid that, if they went there to live,
something dreadful would happen to them. We soon made ourselves very
comfortable, and while we lived there, none of the dreadful things
happened to us that all of our good friends told us would be visited
upon us if we dared to take this place. However, in view of our having
lost our place by fire, I am inclined to think that their fears were
well founded.
The loss sustained by having this house burned we never recovered, as my
father, being an official of the Government, it would have been very
bad form to have tried to recover this money, besides a possible loss
of standing, as Government officials are supposed never to consider
themselves or families in the service of their country, and any private
losses in the service must be borne without complaint.
On the first of March, 1903, Prince Ching and his son, Prince Tsai Chen,
came to see us and told us that Her Majesty wished to see my mother, my
sister, and myself at once; that we should be at the Summer Palace (Wan
Shou Shan) at six o'clock the following morning. My mother told Prince
Ching that we had been wearing foreign clothes all these years, while
abroad, and had no suitable Manchu clothes to wear. He replied that he
had told Her Majesty all about us and also mentioned that he had seen us
in European attire and she had said that it would not be necessary for
us to wear Manchu costume to go to the Palace, that she would be glad
to have us wear foreign clothes, as it would give her an opportunity to
study the foreign way of dressing. Both my sister and myself had a
very difficult time deciding what we should wear for this occasion;
she wished to wear her pale blue velvet gown, as she thought that color
suited her the best. My mother had always made us dress exactly alike,
ever since we were little girls. I said that I preferred to wear my red
velvet gown, as I had the idea it might please Her Majesty. After a long
discussion I had my way. We had lovely red hats trimmed with plumes and
the same color shoes, and stockings to match. My mother wore a lovely
gown of sea green chiffon cloth embroidered with pale mauve iris and
trimmed with mauve velvet; she wore her large black velvet hat with long
white plumes.
As we lived in the central part of the city and the only means of travel
was by sedan chair and the distance from our house to the Palace was
about thirty-six Chinese li (a three-hour ride), we had to start at
three o'clock in the morning, in order to be there at six. As this was
our first visit to the Palace, Prince Ching's message threw us into a
great state of excitement, and we were naturally anxious to look our
best and to be there on time. It had been the dream of my life to go to
the Palace and see what it was like, and up to this time I had never
had an opportunity, as most of my life had been spent out of Peking,--in
fact, out of China. Another reason why this chance had never come
before was, that my father had never registered our names (my sister and
myself) in the Government book for the registration of births of Manchu
children, in consequence of which the Empress Dowager did not know until
we came back from Paris that Lord Yu Keng had any daughters. My father
told me the reason why he did not put our names in this book was, that
he wished to give us the best education obtainable, and the only way
he could do it was not to let the Empress Dowager know. Besides this,
according to the Manchu custom, the daughters of all Manchu officials
of the second rank and above, after reaching the age of fourteen years,
should go to the Palace, in order that the Emperor may select them for
secondary wives if he so desires, and my father had other plans and
ambitions for us. It was in this way that the late Empress Dowager was
selected by the Emperor Hsien Feng.
(comment: li is 1/3 mile or 1/2 km)
We started at three o'clock that morning in total darkness riding in
four coolie sedan chairs, one on each side of the chair. In going such a
long distance it was necessary to have two relays of chair coolies. This
meant twenty-four coolies for the three chairs, not counting an extra
coolie for each chair who acted as a sort of head chair bearer. Besides
this there were three military officers on horses, one for each chair
and two servants riding at the back of each chair. In addition there
were three big Chinese carts following behind for the chair coolies to
ride in and rest. This made a cavalcade consisting of forty-five men,
nine horses and three carts.
I had a rather nervous feeling riding along in the chair surrounded by
inky blackness, with nothing to relieve the stillness of the night but
the rough voices of the chair bearers calling back and forth to each
other to be careful of stones and holes in the road, which was very
uneven, and the clump, clump of the horses. To my readers who have never
had the experience of riding a long distance in a sedan chair I would
say that it is a most uncomfortable conveyance, as you have to sit
perfectly still and absolutely straight, otherwise the chair is liable
to upset. This ride was a very long one and I felt quite stiff and tired
by the time I reached the Palace gates.
CHAPTER TWO--AT THE PALACE
WHEN we reached the City gates, which were about half way between our
house and the Summer Palace, they were wide open for us to pass. This
quite surprised us, as all gates are closed at seven o'clock in the
evening and are not opened except on special occasions until daylight.
We inquired of the guard why this was, and were told that orders had
been given for the gates to be opened for us to pass. The officials who
had charge were standing in a double line dressed in full official dress
and saluted us as we passed.
It was still quite dark when we had passed through the gate and I
thought of the many experiences of my short life; but this was by far
the strangest of them all. I wondered what Her Majesty would be like and
whether she would like me or not. We were told that probably we would be
asked to stay at the Court, and I thought that if that came to pass, I
would possibly be able to influence Her Majesty in favor of reform and
so be of valuable assistance to China. These thoughts made me feel happy
and I made up my mind then and there that I would do all I could and
use any influence I might have in the future towards the advancement of
China and for her welfare. While I was still dreaming of these pleasant
prospects, a faint red line appeared on the horizon heralding the coming
of a most perfect day, and so it proved. As the light grew brighter and
I could distinguish objects, a very pretty view gradually opened to me,
and as we came nearer to the Palace I could see a high red wall which
zigzagged from hill to hill and enclosed the Palace grounds. The tops of
the wall and buildings were covered with yellow and green tiles and made
a most dazzling picture in the bright sunlight. Pagodas of different
sizes and styles were passed, and when we arrived at the village of Hai
Tien, about four li from the Palace gates, we were told by the officers
we only had a short distance further to go. This was good news, as I
began to think we would never get there. This village was quite a pretty
country place of one-story houses built of brick, which were very neat
and clean as are most of the houses in the northern part of China. The
children trouped out to see the procession pass, and I heard one remark
to another: "Those ladies are going to the Palace to become Empresses,"
which amused me very much.
Soon after leaving Hai Tien we came to a pai lou (archway), a very
beautiful piece of old Chinese architecture and carved work, and from
here got our first view of the Palace gates, which were about 100 yards
ahead. These gates are cut into the solid wall surrounding the Palace
and consist of one very large gate in the center and two smaller ones on
each side. The center gate is only opened when their Majesties pass in
and out of the Palace. Our chairs were set down in front of the left
gate, which was open. Outside of these gates, at a distance of about 500
yards, were two buildings where the guard stayed at night.
Just as we arrived I saw a number of officials talking excitedly, and
some of them went into the gate shouting "Li la, doula" (have come, have
arrived). When we got out of our chairs, we were met by two eunuchs of
the fourth rank (chrystal button and feather). This feather which is
worn by eunuchs of the fourth rank, comes from a bird called the magh
(horse-fowl) which is found in Szechuen Province. They are grey and
are dyed black, and are much wider than the peacock feather. These
two eunuchs were accompanied by ten small eunuchs carrying yellow
silk screens, which they placed around our chairs when we alighted. It
appeared that Her Majesty had given orders that these screens (huang
wai mor) should be brought to us. This is considered a great honor. They
were ten feet long and twenty feet high and were held by two eunuchs.
These two eunuchs of high rank were extremely polite and stood at each
side of the gate and invited us to enter. Passing through this gate we
came into a very large paved courtyard about three hundred feet square,
in which there were a great many small flower beds and old pine trees
from which hung all kinds of birds in cages. On the side opposite to the
gates we had entered was a red brick wall with three gates exactly like
the others; on the right and left side were long rows of low buildings
each containing twelve rooms, used as waiting rooms. The courtyard was
full of people dressed in official robes of the different ranks, and,
after the Chinese fashion, all seemed to be very busy doing nothing.
When they saw us they stood still and stared. The two eunuchs who were
showing us the way conducted us to one of these rooms. This room was
about twenty feet square, just ordinarily furnished in black wood
furniture with red cloth cushions and silk curtains hanging from the
three windows. We were not in this room more than five minutes when a
gorgeously dressed eunuch came and said: "Imperial Edict says to invite
Yu tai tai (Lady Yu) and young ladies to wait in the East side Palace."
On his saying this, the two eunuchs who were with us knelt down
and replied "Jur" (Yes). Whenever Her Majesty gives an order it is
considered an Imperial Edict or command and all servants are required to
kneel when any command is transmitted to them the same as they would if
in Her Majesty's presence, Then they told us to follow them and we went
through another left gate to another courtyard laid out exactly the same
as the former, except that the Ren Shou Dien (audience hall) is situated
on the north side and the other buildings were a little larger. The
eunuchs showed us into the east side building, which was beautifully
furnished with reddish blackwood exquisitely carved, the chairs
and tables covered with blue satin and the walls hung with the same
material. In different parts of the room were fourteen clocks of all
sizes and shapes. I know this, for I counted them.
In a little while two servant girls came and waited on us and told us
that Her Majesty was dressing and that we were to wait a little time.
This little time proved to be a matter of more than two hours and
a half, but as this is considered nothing in China, we did not get
impatient. From time to time eunuchs came and brought milk to drink and
about twenty or more dishes of various kinds of food which Her Majesty
sent. She also sent us each a gold ring with a large pearl in the
center. Later the chief eunuch, Li Lien Ying, came dressed in his
official clothes. He was of the second rank and wore a red button and
peacock feather and was the only eunuch that was ever allowed to wear
the peacock feather. He was a very ugly man, very old and his face was
full of wrinkles; but he had beautiful manners and said that Her Majesty
would receive us in a little while, and brought us each a jade ring
which she had sent us. We were very much surprised that she should give
us such beautiful presents before she had even seen us, and felt most
kindly disposed toward her for her generosity.
Soon after Li Lien Ying had gone, two court ladies, daughters of Prince
Ching, came in and asked the eunuchs who were attending us if we could
speak Chinese, which we thought a great joke. I was the first one to
speak, and told them of course we could speak our own language, although
we knew several others. They were very much surprised and said: "Oh!
how funny, they can talk the language as well as we do." We in turn were
very much surprised to find such ignorant people in the Imperial Palace
and concluded that their opportunities for acquiring knowledge were very
limited. Then they told us Her Majesty was waiting to receive us, and we
went immediately.
After walking through three courtyards very similar to those we had
previously passed through, we came to a magnificent building just one
mass of exquisite carving. Large lanterns made of buffalo horns hung all
over the veranda covered with red silk from which red silk tassels were
hanging and from each of these tassels was suspended a beautiful piece
of jade. There were two smaller buildings flanking this large one, also
one mass of carvings and hung with lanterns.
At the door of the large building we met a lady, dressed the same as
Prince Ching's daughters, with the exception that she had a phoenix in
the center of her headdress which distinguished her from the others.
This lady came out to meet us, smiling, and shook hands with us in the
most approved foreign fashion. We were told later that this was the
Young Empress, wife of the Emperor Kwang Hsu. She said: "Her Majesty has
sent me to meet you," and was very sweet and polite, and had beautiful
manners; but was not very pretty. Then we heard a loud voice from the
hall saying, "Tell them to come in at once." We went into this hall
immediately and saw an old lady dressed in a beautiful yellow satin gown
embroidered all over with pink peonies, and wearing the same kind of
headdress with flowers on each side made of pearls and jade, a pearl
tassel on the left side and a beautiful phoenix in the center made of
purest jade. Over her gown she wore a cape, the most magnificent and
costly thing I ever saw. This cape was made of about three thousand five
hundred pearls the size of a canary bird's egg, all exactly alike in
color and perfectly round. It was made on the fish net pattern and had
a fringe of jade pendants and was joined with two pure jade clasps. In
addition to this Her Majesty wore two pairs of pearl bracelets, one
pair of jade bracelets, several jade rings and on her third and little
fingers of her right hand she wore gold finger nail protectors about
three inches long and on the left hand two finger nail protectors made
of jade and about the same length. Her shoes were trimmed with small
tassels made of pearls and embroidered with tiny pieces of different
colored jade.
Her Majesty stood up when she saw us and shook hands with us. She had
a most fascinating smile and was very much surprised that we knew
the Court etiquette so well. After she had greeted us, she said to my
mother: "Yu tai tai (Lady Yu), you are a wonder the way you have brought
your daughters up. They speak Chinese just as well as I do, although I
know they have been abroad for so many years, and how is it that they
have such beautiful manners?" "Their father was always very strict with
them," my mother replied; "he made them study their own language first
and they had to study very hard." "I am pleased to hear their father
has been so careful with them," Her Majesty said, "and given them such
a fine education." She took my hands and looked into my face and smiled
and kissed me on both cheeks and said to my mother: "I wish to have your
daughters and hope they will stay with me." We were very much pleased
at this and thanked her for her kindness. Her Majesty asked all sorts of
questions about our Paris gowns and said we must wear them all the
time, as she had very little chance to see them at the Court. She was
particularly in love with our Louis XV high heel shoes. While we were
talking to her we saw a gentleman standing at a little distance and
after a while she said, "Let me introduce you to the Emperor Kwang Hsu,
but you must call him Wan Sway Yeh (Master of 10,000 years) and call me
Lao Tsu Tsung (the Great Ancestor)." His Majesty shyly shook hands with
us. He was a man about five feet, seven inches in height, very thin,
but with very strong features; high nose and forehead, large, brilliant
black eyes, strong mouth, very white, even teeth; altogether good
looking. I noticed he had a very sad look, although he was smiling all
the time we were there. At this juncture the head eunuch came, knelt
down on the marble floor and announced that Her Majesty's chair was
ready and she asked us to go with her to the Audience Hall, distant
about two minutes' walk, where she was going to receive the heads of the
different Boards. It was a beautiful day and her open chair was waiting.
This chair is carried by eight eunuchs all dressed in official robes,
a most unusual sight. The head eunuch walked on her left side and the
second eunuch on her right side, each with a steadying hand on the chair
pole. Four eunuchs of the fifth rank in front and twelve eunuchs of the
sixth rank walked behind. Each eunuch carried something in his hand,
such as Her Majesty's clothes, shoes, handkerchiefs, combs, brushes,
powder boxes, looking glasses of different sizes, perfumes, pins, black
and red ink, yellow paper, cigarettes, water pipes, and the last one
carried her yellow satin-covered stool. Besides this there were
two amahs (old women servants) and four servant girls all carrying
something. This procession was most interesting to see and made one
think it a lady's dressing room on legs. The Emperor walked on Her
Majesty's right and the Young Empress on the left, as did also the Court
ladies.
The Audience Hall was about two hundred feet long by about one hundred
and fifty feet wide, and at the left side was a long table covered with
yellow satin. When Her Majesty came down from the chair she went into
the Hall and mounted her throne just behind this table, and His Majesty
mounted a smaller one at her left side, the Ministers all kneeling on
the floor in front of her and on the opposite side of the table.
At the back of the Hall was a large dais about twenty feet long by about
eighteen feet wide, enclosed by a magnificently carved railing about
two feet high running all the way round, open only in the front in
two places just large enough for a person to pass through. These two
openings were reached by a flight of six steps. At the back of this dais
was a small screen and immediately in front of this, in the center,
was Her Majesty's throne. Immediately behind was an immense carved wood
screen, the most beautiful thing I ever saw, twenty feet long by ten
feet high. In front of Her Majesty's throne was a long narrow table. At
the left side was a smaller throne for the Emperor.
The theme of the carving and furnishings of this dais was the phoenix
and peony most exquisitely carved in ebony wood, in fact the theme of
the entire room was the same. On each side of Her Majesty's throne were
two upright ebony poles on the top of which were peacock feathers made
into the shape of a fan The upholstery was entirely of yellow Chinese
velvet.
Just before Her Majesty took her seat on her throne she ordered us to go
behind this screen with the Young Empress and the Court ladies. This
we did, and could hear the conversation between Her Majesty and the
Ministers very plainly, and as my readers will see later, I made good
use of this.
CHAPTER THREE--A PLAY AT THE COURT
THIS day to me was a medley of brilliant impressions. I was a great
novelty among these exclusive Court ladies, brought up rigidly apart
from foreign life and customs, and I was subjected to a rapid fire of
questions. I soon found that these women were the same as others the
world over in point of curiosity and love of gossip. The fourth daughter
of Prince Ching (Sze Gurgur), a young widow and a strikingly handsome
woman, spoke to me. "Were you brought up in Europe and educated?" she
asked. "I am told that when people go to that country and drink the
water there, they quickly forget their own country. Did you really study
to acquire all those languages or was it drinking the water that gave
them to you?" I mentioned that I met her brother, Prince Tsai Chen, in
Paris on his way to London for the coronation of King Edward, and that
we should have liked to have gone also, as my father had a special
invitation, but were prevented from doing so by his urgent duties in
Paris in settling the Yunnan question, to which the Princess replied:
"Is there a king in England? I had thought that our Empress Dowager
was Queen of the world." Her sister, wife of the brother of the Young
Empress, a most intelligent, quiet and dignified lady, stood by smiling
and listening to the eager questions. After numerous questions had been
asked the Young Empress finally said: "How ignorant you are. I know that
each country has its ruler and that some countries are republics. The
United States is a republic and very friendly toward us, but I am sorry
that such a common class of people go there, as they will think we
are all the same. What I should like to see is some of our good Manchu
people go, as then they would see what we really are." She afterwards
told me she had been reading a history of the different countries,
which had been translated into Chinese, and she seemed to be very well
informed.
After the Audience was over, Her Majesty called us out from behind the
screen and told us to go with her to see the theatre. She said, as it
was such a beautiful day, she preferred to walk, so we started, walking
a little behind her, as is the custom. Along the way she pointed out
from time to time different places and things that were her particular
favorites, and as she had to keep turning around all the time, she
finally told us to come and walk alongside of her. This, as I afterwards
found out, was a great condescension on her part and a thing that
she very seldom ever did. She, like everybody else, had her pets and
hobbies, such as flowers, trees, plants, dogs, horses, etc., and there
was one dog in particular that was her favorite pet. This dog was with
Her Majesty always and followed her wherever she went, and a more homely
dog I never saw. It had absolutely nothing to recommend it in any way.
Her Majesty thought it beautiful, and called it Shui Ta (Sea Otter).
A short distance from the Audience Hall we came to a large courtyard.
On each side of this courtyard were two immense baskets fifteen feet
in height, built of natural logs and literally covered with purple
wisteria. They were simply gorgeous and great favorites of Her Majesty.
She was always very proud of them when in bloom and took great delight
in showing them to the people.
From this courtyard we entered a sort of passageway which ran along
the sides of a big hill and led directly to the theatre, where we soon
arrived. This theatre is quite unlike anything that you can imagine.
It is built around the four sides of an open courtyard, each side being
separate and distinct. The building has five stories. It is entirely
open on the front and has two stages, one above the other. The three top
stories are used for holding the drops and for store rooms. The stage on
the first floor is of the ordinary kind; but that on the second floor
is built to represent a temple and used when playing religious plays, of
which Her Majesty was very fond.
On the two sides were long, low buildings with large verandas running
their entire length, where the Princes and Ministers sat when invited
by Her Majesty to witness the play. Directly opposite this stage was
a spacious building, containing three large rooms, which was used
exclusively by Her Majesty. The floor was raised about ten feet above
the ground, which brought it on a level with the stage. Large glass
windows ran along in front, so made that they could be removed in the
summer and replaced with pale blue gauze screens. Two of these rooms
were used as sitting rooms and the third, the one on the right, she used
as a bedroom, and it had a long couch running across the front, on which
she used to sit or lie according to her mood. This day she invited us
to go to this room with her. Later I was told that she would very
often come to this room, look at the play for a while and then take her
siesta. She could certainly sleep soundly, for the din and noise did
not disturb her in the least. If any of my readers have ever been to a
Chinese theatre, they can well imagine how difficult it would be to woo
the God of Sleep in such a pandemonium.
As soon as we were in this bedroom the play commenced. It was a
religious play called "The Empress of Heaven's Party or Feast to all
the Buddhist Priests to eat her famous peaches and drink her best wine."
This party or feast is given on the third day of the third moon of each
year.
The first act opens with a Buddhist Priest, dressed in a yellow coat
robe with a red scarf draped over his left shoulder, descending in a
cloud from Heaven to invite all the priests to this party. I was very
much surprised to see this actor apparently suspended in the air and
actually floating on this cloud, which was made of cotton. The clever
way in which they moved the scenery, etc., was most interesting, and
before the play was finished I concluded that any theatre manager could
well take lessons from these people; and it was all done without the
slightest bit of machinery.
As this Buddhist Priest was descending, a large pagoda began to slowly
rise from the center of the stage in which was a buddha singing and
holding an incense burner in front of him. Then four other smaller
pagodas slowly rose from the four corners of the stage, each containing
a buddha the same as the first. When the first Buddhist Priest had
descended, the five buddhas came out of the pagodas, which immediately
disappeared, and walked about the stage, still singing. Gradually from
the wing came numbers of buddhas singing until the stage was full, and
they all formed into a ring. Then I saw a large lotus flower, made of
pink silk, and two large green leaves appearing from the bottom of the
stage, and as it rose the petals and leaves gradually opened and I saw a
beautiful lady buddha (Goddess of Mercy) dressed all in white silk, with
a white hood on her head, standing in the center of this flower. As the
leaves opened I saw a girl and a boy in the center of them. When the
petals of the lotus flower were wide open this lady buddha began to
gradually ascend herself, and as she ascended, the petals closed until
she seemed to be standing on a lotus bud. The girl standing in the
leaf on the Goddess' right side held a bottle made of jade and a willow
branch. The legend of this is that if the Goddess dips the willow branch
into the jade bottle and spreads it over a dead person it will bring
the person to life. The boy and the girl are the two attendants of the
buddha.
Finally the three came down from the flower and leaves and joined the
rest of the buddhas. Then the Empress of Heaven came, a good old lady
with snow-white hair, dressed from head to foot in Imperial yellow,
followed by many attendants, and ascended the throne, which was in the
center of the stage, and said: "We will go to the banquet hall." This
ended the first scene.
The second scene opened with tables set for the feast to be given by the
Empress of Heaven. These tables were loaded down with peaches and wine
and four attendants guarding them. Suddenly a bee came buzzing near and
scattered a powder under the nostrils of the attendants, which made them
sleepy. When they had fallen asleep, this bee transformed itself into a
big monkey and this monkey ate all the peaches and drank all the wine.
As soon as he had finished he disappeared.
A blast of trumpets announced the coming of the Empress of Heaven and
she soon arrived accompanied by all the Buddhist Priests and their
attendants. When the Empress of Heaven saw all the peaches and wine had
disappeared, she woke the attendants and asked them why they were asleep
and where the peaches and wine had gone. They said that they did not
know, that they were waiting for her to come and fell asleep. Then one
of the guests suggested that she should find out what had become of the
feast, and attendants were sent out to the guard to find out from
the soldiers if anyone had gone out of the gate recently. Before the
messenger had time to return, the Guard of Heaven came and informed the
Empress that a big monkey, who was very drunk and carrying a big stick,
had just gone out of the gate. When she was told this, she ordered the
soldiers of heaven and several buddhas to go and find him at his place.
It seems that this monkey had originally been made from a piece of stone
and lived in a large hole in a mountain on the earth. He was endowed
with supernatural powers and could walk on the clouds. He was allowed
to come to heaven and the Empress of Heaven gave him a position looking
after the Imperial orchards.
When they got to his place on the earth, they found that he had taken
some of the peaches with him and he, with other monkeys, was having a
feast. The soldiers challenged him to come out and fight. He immediately
accepted this challenge, but the soldiers could do nothing with him. He
pulled the hair out of his coat and transformed each hair into a little
monkey and each monkey had an iron rod in its hand. He himself had
a special iron rod, which had been given to him by the King of Sea
Dragons. This rod he could make any size he wanted from a needle to a
crowbar.
Among the buddhas who had gone with the soldiers was one named Erh Lang
Yeh, who was the most powerful of them all and had three eyes. This
buddha had a dog which was very powerful and he told the dog to bite
this monkey, which he did, and the monkey fell down and they caught him
and brought him up to heaven. When they got there the Empress of Heaven
ordered that he should be handed to Lao Chun, an old taoist god, and
that he should burn him in his incense burner. The incense burner was
very large, and when they took the monkey to him he placed him inside
this burner and watched him very carefully to see that he did not get
out. After he had watched for a long time he thought the monkey must be
dead and went out for a few minutes. The monkey, however, was not dead
and as soon as Lao Chun went out, he escaped and stole some golden
pills which Lao Chun kept in a gourd and went back to his hole in the
mountains. These pills were very powerful and if one of them were eaten
it would give eternal life, and the monkey knew this. The monkey ate one
and it tasted good and he gave the little monkeys some. When Lao Chun
came back and found both the monkey and the pills gone he went and
informed the Empress of Heaven. This ended the second scene.
The third scene opened with the buddhas and soldiers at the monkey's
place in the mountains and they again asked him to come out and fight.
The monkey said: "What! Coming again?" and laughed at them. They started
to fight again, but he was so strong they could not get the best of him.
Even the dog who had bit him before was powerless this time, and they
finally gave it up and returned to heaven and told the Empress of Heaven
that they could not capture him the second time, as he was too strong.
Then the Empress of Heaven called a little god about fifteen years old
by the name of Neur Cha, who had supernatural powers, and told him to go
down to earth to the monkey's place and see if he could finish him. This
god was made of lotus flowers and leaves, that is, his bones were made
of flowers and his flesh made of leaves and he could transform himself
into anything that he wished. When Neur Cha got to the monkey's place
and the monkey saw him, he said: "What! A little boy like you come to
fight me? Well, if you think you can beat me, come on," and the boy
transformed himself into an immense man with three heads and six arms.
When the monkey saw this, he transformed himself also into the same
thing. When the little god saw that this would not do, he transformed
himself into a very big man and started to take the monkey, but the
monkey transformed himself into a very large sword and cut this man into
two pieces. The little god again transformed himself into fire to burn
the monkey, but the monkey transformed himself into water and put the
fire out. Again the little god transformed himself, this time into a
very fierce lion, but the monkey transformed himself into a big net to
catch the lion. So this little god, seeing that he could not get the
best of the monkey, gave it up and went back to heaven, and told the
Empress of Heaven that the monkey was too strong for him. The Empress
of Heaven was in despair, so she sent for Ju Li, an old ancestor of the
buddhas, who was the all-powerful one of them all; and Kuan Yin, Goddess
of Mercy, and sent them down to the monkey's place to see if they could
capture him. When they arrived at the hole in the mountain the monkey
came out and looked at Ju Li, but did not say a word, as he knew who
this god was. This god pointed a finger at him and he knelt down and
submitted. Ju Li said: "Come with me," and took the monkey and put him
under another mountain and told him he would have to stay there until
he promised he would be good. Ju Li said: "You stay here until one day
I lift this mountain up for you to come out to go with a Buddhist Priest
to the West side of heaven and demand the prayer books that are kept
there. You will have to suffer a great deal on the way and face many
dangers, but if you come back with this Buddhist Priest and the prayer
books, by that time your savage temper will be gone and you will be put
in a nice place in heaven and enjoy life forever afterwards."
This finished the play, which was very interesting, and I enjoyed it
from beginning to end. It was acted very cleverly and quite realistic,
and I was very much surprised to know that the eunuchs could act so
well. Her Majesty told us that the scenery was all painted by the
eunuchs and that she had taught them about all they knew. Unlike most
theatres in China, it had a curtain which was closed between the acts,
also wing slides and drop scenes. Her Majesty had never seen a foreign
theatre and I could not understand where she got all her ideas from. She
was very fond of reading religious books and fairy tales, and wrote
them into plays and staged them herself, and was extremely proud of her
achievement.
Her Majesty sat talking, we standing, for some little time and she asked
me if I understood the play, and I told her that I did and she seemed
quite pleased. Then she said in such a charming way: "Oh! I am so
interested in talking with you that I have forgotten to order my lunch.
Are you hungry? Could you get Chinese food when you were abroad, and
were you homesick? I know I would be if I left my own country for so
long a time; but the reason why you were abroad so long was not your
fault. It was my order that sent Yu Keng to Paris and I am not a bit
sorry, for you see how much you can help me now, and I am proud of you
and will show you to the foreigners that they may see our Manchu ladies
can speak other languages than their own." While she was talking I
noticed that the eunuchs were laying three large tables with nice white
table cloths, and I could see a number of other eunuchs standing in
the courtyard with boxes of food. These boxes or trays are made of wood
painted yellow and are large enough to hold four small and two large
bowls of food. After the tables were laid ready, the eunuchs outside
formed themselves into a double line from the courtyard to a little gate
running into another courtyard and passed these trays from one to the
other up to the entrance of the room, where they were taken by four
nicely dressed eunuchs and placed on the tables.
It seems that it was a habit of Her Majesty to take her meals wherever
she happened to be, so that there was no particular place that she
used as a dining room. I should also mention that these bowls were of
Imperial yellow with silver covers. Some were ornamented with green
dragons and some with the Chinese character Shou (Long Life).
There were about one hundred and fifty different kinds of food, for I
counted them. They were placed in long rows, one row of large bowls and
one row of small plates, and then another row of small bowls, and so on.
As the setting of the tables was going on, two Court ladies came into
the bedroom, each carrying a large yellow box. I was very much surprised
to see Court ladies doing this kind of work and I said to myself, if
I come here will I have to do this sort of thing? Although these boxes
appeared to be quite heavy, they brought them in very gracefully. Two
small tables were placed in front of Her Majesty, then they opened the
boxes and placed a number of very cute plates containing all sorts of
sweets, lotus flower seeds, dried and cooked with sugar, watermelon
seeds, walnuts cooked in different ways, and fruits of the season cut
and sliced. As these plates were being placed on the tables Her Majesty
said that she liked these dainties better than meat and gave us some and
told us to make ourselves at home. We thanked her for her kindness and
enjoyed them very much. I noticed that she ate quite a quantity from the
different plates and wondered how she would be able to eat her lunch.
When she had finished, two of the Court ladies came and took the plates
away and Her Majesty told us that she always gave what was left to the
Court ladies after she had finished eating.
After this a eunuch came in carrying a cup of tea. This tea cup was
made of pure white jade and the saucer and cover was of solid gold. Then
another eunuch came in carrying a silver tray on which were two jade
cups similar to the others, one containing honeysuckle flowers and the
other rose petals. He also brought a pair of gold chopsticks. They both
knelt on the floor in front of Her Majesty and held the trays up so
that she could reach them. She took the golden cover off of the cup
containing tea and took some of the honeysuckle flowers and placed
them in the tea. While she was doing this and sipping the tea, she was
telling how fond she was of flowers and what a delicate flavor they gave
to the tea. Then she said: "I will let you taste some of my tea and see
if you like it," and ordered one of the eunuchs to bring us some
tea, the same as she was drinking. When it came, she put some of the
honeysuckle flowers in the cup for us and watched us drink it. It was
the most delicious tea I had ever tasted and the putting of flowers in
it gave it an extremely delicate flavour.
CHAPTER FOUR--A LUNCHEON WITH THE EMPRESS
WHEN we had finished drinking tea, she told us to go with her into the
next room, where the tables had been prepared for lunch, and I wondered
if she had any room for lunch, after all that she had just eaten, but
I soon found out. As soon as she was inside the room, she ordered the
covers to be removed and they were all taken off at one time. Then she
took her seat at the head of the table and told us to stand at the foot.
She then said: "generally the Emperor takes lunch with me when we have
the theatre, but he is shy to-day, as you are all new to him. I hope he
will get over it and not be so bashful. You three had better eat with me
to-day." Of course, we knew that this was an especial favor, and thanked
her by kowtowing before we commenced to eat. This kowtowing, or bowing
our heads to the ground, was very tiring at first and made us dizzy,
until we got used to it.
When we commenced to eat, Her Majesty ordered the eunuchs to place
plates for us and give us silver chopsticks, spoons, etc., and said:
"I am sorry you have to eat standing, but I cannot break the law of our
great ancestors. Even the Young Empress cannot sit in my presence. I
am sure the foreigners must think we are barbarians to treat our Court
ladies in this way and I don't wish them to know anything about our
customs. You will see how differently I act in their presence, so that
they cannot see my true self."
I was watching her while she was talking to my mother and marvelled
to see how she could eat, after having eaten such a quantity of candy,
walnuts, etc., while in her bedroom.
Beef was a thing that was tabooed within the precincts of the Palace, as
it was considered a great sin to kill and eat animals that were used as
beasts of burden. The food consisted mostly of pork, mutton and game,
fowls and vegetables. This day we had pork cooked in ten different ways,
such as meat balls, sliced cold in two different ways, red and white,
the red being cooked with a special kind of sauce made of beans which
gives it the red color and has a delicious taste. Chopped pork with
chopped bamboo shoots, pork cut in cubes and cooked with cherries
and pork cooked with onions and sliced thin. This last dish was Her
Majesty's favorite and I must say it was good. Then there was a sort of
pancake made of eggs, pork and mushrooms chopped fine and fried, also
pork cooked with cabbage and another dish cooked with turnips. The fowl
and mutton was cooked in several different ways. In the center of the
table was a very large bowl about two feet in diameter of the same
yellow porcelain, in which there was a chicken, a duck and some shark
fins in a clear soup. Shark fins are considered a great delicacy in
China. Besides this there was roast chicken, boneless chicken and roast
duck. Ducks and chickens are stuffed with little pine needles to give
them a fine flavor and roasted in open air ovens.
There was another dish that Her Majesty was very fond of and that was
the skin of roast pork cut into very small slices and fried until it
curls up like a rasher of bacon.
As a rule the Manchu people seldom eat rice, but are very fond of bread
and this day we had bread, made in a number of different ways, such as
baked, steamed, fried, some with sugar and some with salt and
pepper, cut in fancy shapes or made in fancy moulds such as dragons,
butterflies, flowers, etc., and one kind was made with mincemeat inside.
Then we had a number of different kinds of pickles, of which Her Majesty
was very fond. Then there was beans and green peas, and peanuts made
into cakes and served with sugarcane syrup.
I did not eat very much, as I was too busy watching Her Majesty and
listening to what she said, although she told us to eat all we could.
In addition to all I have mentioned, we had many different kinds of
porridge, some made of sweet corn and some with tiny yellow rice (like
bird seed), and Her Majesty said that we must all eat porridge after our
meat.
After we had finally finished eating, Her Majesty rose from the table
and said: "Come into my bedroom and you will see the Young Empress and
the Court ladies eat; they always eat after I am finished." We went with
her and I stood near the door between the two rooms and saw the Young
Empress and Court ladies come in and stand around the table eating very
quietly. They were never allowed to sit down and eat their food.
All this time the theatre had been going on playing some fairy tales,
but they were not near as interesting as the first play that we had
seen. Her Majesty sat on her long couch in the bedroom and the eunuch
brought her some tea and she ordered some brought for us. My reader
can imagine how delighted I was to be treated in this way. In China the
people think their sovereign is the supreme being and that her word is
law. One must never raise their eyes when talking to her. This is a sign
of great respect. I thought these extreme favors must be most unusual. I
had been told that Her Majesty had a very fierce temper, but seeing her
so kind and gracious to us and talking to us in such a motherly way, I
thought my informant must be wrong and that she was the sweetest woman
in the world.
When Her Majesty had rested a while, she told us that it was time we
were returning to the city, as it was getting late. She gave us eight
big yellow boxes of fruit and cakes to take home with us. She said to
my mother: "Tell Yu Keng (my father) to get better soon and tell him to
take the medicine I am sending by you and to rest well. Also give him
these eight boxes of fruit and cakes." I thought my father, who had been
quite ill since we returned from Paris, would not be much benefited if
he ate all those cakes. However, I knew he would appreciate her kind
thoughtfulness even if it were detrimental to his health.
As perhaps most of my readers know, it is the custom to kowtow when Her
Majesty gives presents and we kowtowed to her when she gave us the fruit
and cakes and thanked her for her kindness.
Just as we were leaving, Her Majesty said to my mother that she liked us
very much and wanted us to come and be her Court ladies and stay at the
Palace. We thought this was another great favor and again thanked her,
and she asked us when we could come and told us to bring our clothes and
things only, as she would fix everything for us and showed us the house
we would live in when we came and told us to come back inside of two
days. This house contained three very large rooms and was situated on
the right side of her own or private Palace. This Palace Ler Shou Tong
(Ever Happy Palace) is situated on the shores of the lake and was Her
Majesty's favorite place and where she spent most of her time, reading
and resting and when the spirit moved her she would go for a sail on the
lake. In this Palace she had quite a number of bedrooms and made use of
them all.
When she had finished showing us this house we took leave of Her
Majesty, the Young Empress and the Court ladies, and after a long and
tiresome ride, reached home exhausted but happy, after the most eventful
day of our lives. When we got into the house, we were surprised to find
several eunuchs waiting our return. They had brought us each four rolls
of Imperial brocade from Her Majesty. Once more we had to bend to custom
in thanking her for these gifts. This time, the gift having been sent to
the house, we placed the silk on a table in the center of the room and
kowtowed to thank Her Majesty and told the eunuchs to tell Her Majesty
how grateful we were to her for all her kindness and for the beautiful
gifts.
There is another thing that had to be done according to the custom, and
that was to give the eunuchs a present or tip, and we had to give each
of the eunuchs ten taels for their trouble. We afterwards found out that
when eunuchs went anywhere to take presents for Her Majesty, they were
required to report to her when they returned how the recipient had
thanked her and what had been given them, which she allowed them to
keep. She also asked them numerous questions about our house, whether we
were pleased with her, etc. These people are extremely fond of talking
and after we had returned to the Palace again, they told us what Her
Majesty had said about us the first day we were there.
My mother felt very much worried to go to the Palace and leave my father
all alone owing to his being in poor health, but we could not disobey
Her Majesty's order, so we returned to the Palace three days later.
Our first day there was a busy one for us. When we first arrived we went
and thanked Her Majesty for the present that she had sent us. She told
us that she was very busy to-day, as she was going to receive a Russian
lady, Madame Plancon, wife of the Russian Minister to China, who was
bringing a miniature portrait of the Czar and Czarina and family as a
present from the Czar to her, the Empress Dowager. She asked me if I
could speak Russian. I told her that I could not, but that most Russians
spoke French, which seemed to satisfy her. She, however, said: "Why
don't you tell me you speak Russian, I won't know or be able to find
out," and at the same time was looking at one of the Court ladies. I
concluded that someone must be fooling her, for she seemed to appreciate
the fact that I had told her the truth. This afterwards proved to be
true and one of the Court ladies was dismissed for pretending she could
talk foreign languages when she could not speak a word.
Besides this audience there was the theatre and the engagement ceremony
of Her Majesty's nephew, Ter Ju. The engagement ceremony, according to
the Manchu custom, is performed by two of the Princesses of the Royal
family going to the house of the prospective bride, who sits on her bed
cross-legged, her eyes closed and awaits their coming. When they arrive
at the house, they go to her bedroom and place a symbol called Ru Yee,
made of pure jade about one and a half feet long, in her lap and suspend
two small bags made of silk and beautifully embroidered, each containing
a gold coin, from the buttons of her gown, and place two gold rings on
her fingers, on which is carved the characters Ta Hsi (Great Happiness).
The meaning of the symbol or sceptre Ru Yee is "May all joy be yours."
During this entire ceremony absolute silence is maintained and
immediately they have finished, they return to the Palace and inform Her
Majesty that the ceremony has been completed.
CHAPTER FIVE--AN AUDIENCE WITH THE EMPRESS
No one informed us the day before that there was to be an audience
to receive the Russian Minister's wife on that very day. We told Her
Majesty that we must go and change our clothes in order to receive this
lady. The dresses we wore that day were very simply made and short. The
reason we wore this kind of costume was that there was no carpet and
the bare brick floor had ruined our beautiful red velvet gowns, also the
clumsy eunuchs had kept stepping on our trains all the time. We had made
up our minds that short dresses for general wear every day would be more
practical. Her Majesty said: "Why must you change your clothes? I see
you look much better without that tail dragging behind you on the floor.
I laughed at the idea of having a tail on one's dresses. I noticed that
the first day when you came to the Court." Before we had time to
explain to her, she said: "I see, dresses with tails behind must be more
dignified than short ones, am I right?" We told her it was so. Then she
said: "Go and put on your most beautiful gowns at once." We immediately
went and changed. My sister and myself wore our pink crepe de chine
gowns, trimmed with Brussels lace and transparent yokes of the same
color chiffon. My mother wore her gray crepe de chine embroidered with
black roses and a little touch of pale blue satin on her collar and
belt. We dressed in a great hurry, as Her Majesty had sent eunuchs to
see if we were ready. When she saw us she exclaimed: "Here are three
fairies with long tails." Then she asked us: "Is it very tiring to hold
half of your dress in your hand when you are walking? The costume is
pretty, but I do dislike the tail, there is no sense having a thing like
that. I wonder what these foreigners will think of me having you dressed
in their costume. I am sure they won't like the idea. My reason is
this: I want them to see you in foreign clothes in order to let them
understand I know something about the way they dress. I must say that
no foreign ladies have yet been presented to me dressed in such lovely
gowns as you three have. I don't believe foreigners are as wealthy as
the Chinese. I also notice they wear very little jewelry. I was told
that I have more jewelry than any sovereign in the world and yet I am
getting more all the time."
We were very busy getting ready to receive Mdme. Plancon, who arrived
about eleven o'clock and was received in the waiting room of the first
courtyard by my sister and from there conducted to the audience hall,
Ren Shou Dien, where she was received by Her Majesty, who was sitting on
her big throne on the raised dais. The Emperor was present, sitting on
Her Majesty's left hand and I stood on her right to interpret for her.
Her Majesty was dressed in a yellow transparent satin brocade gown,
embroidered with hollyhocks and the Chinese character "Shou" (Long Life)
and trimmed with gold braid. She wore her big pearl, which is about the
size and shape of an egg, suspended from the button of her dress, also
numerous bracelets and rings and gold finger nail protectors. Her hair
was dressed in the same style as usual.
When Mdme. Plancon entered the hall, my sister brought her to the steps
of the dais and she courtesied to Her Majesty. I then went forward and
brought her up onto the dais and Her Majesty shook hands with her and
she presented the photograph which she had brought to Her Majesty.
Her Majesty made a very pretty speech of acceptance, expressing her
appreciation of the gift of their Majesties, the Czar and Czarina. I
interpreted this speech in French to Mdme. Plancon, as she could not
speak English. After this, Her Majesty told me to take Mdme. Plancon to
the Emperor, which I did. He stood up when she came near and shook hands
with her and asked after their Majesties' health. This over, Her Majesty
stepped down from her throne and took Mdme. Plancon to her own Palace,
the one with so many bedrooms, and when they arrived, Her Majesty asked
her to sit down, and they talked together for about ten minutes, I
interpreting for them, after which I took her to see the Young Empress.
The Manchu law is very strict as regards the mother-in-law and the
daughter-in-law, and the Young Empress had been sitting behind the
screen at the back of the throne during the audience, and it was there
that I found her. From there we went to the banquet hall, where luncheon
was served in Manchu style.
Here I must explain the difference between the Chinese way of eating and
the Manchu. The Chinese place the bowls of food, one at a time, in the
center of the table and everyone eats out of these bowls, sticking their
chopsticks in and helping themselves to what they want. The Manchus eat
quite differently and are served with individual bowls and dishes, the
same as in any other country. Her Majesty was very proud of this and
said that it saved time, not to mention being cleaner. The food in the
Palace was always very good and clean, especially when we had foreign
guests, and of course we had a variety of dishes for such occasions,
such as sharkfins, birds' nest pudding, not to mention a great quantity
of other things.
Her Majesty had given me the order that morning to have the tables
nicely decorated and they did look very nice when we sat down.
Besides the usual tableware, we had gold dragon menu holders, little
peach-shaped silver saucers filled with almonds and dried watermelon
seeds, and knives and forks in addition to chopsticks.
Her Majesty and the Emperor never ate with guests, so Mdme. Plancon was
entertained by the Imperial Princess and the Court ladies. When luncheon
was half over a eunuch came and told me that Her Majesty wanted to see
me at once. The thought flashed through my head that something had gone
wrong, or that some of the eunuchs had been making false reports, a bad
habit of the Court; and I was much surprised to find her all smiles. She
told me what a nice, polite lady Mdme. Plancon was, that she had seen
many ladies who had come to the Court, but none with manners like this
one, that she was sorry to say that some of the ladies who came did not
behave very well. She said: "They seem to think we are only Chinese and
do not know anything, and look down upon us. I notice these things very
quickly and am surprised to see people who claim to be well educated and
civilized acting the way they do. I think we whom they call barbarians
are much more civilized and have better manners." She was always very
polite to the foreign ladies, no matter how badly they behaved, but
after they had gone, she would tell us who was nice and who was not.
After she had finished saying this, she gave me a beautiful piece of
green jade to give to Madame Plancon. When I gave it to her, she said
she wished to thank Her Majesty, and I took her to the Palace again.
When we had finished luncheon, she told me how pleased she was with her
reception and the kindness that Her Majesty had shown her, and took her
departure, we accompanying her to the courtyard of the Audience Hall,
where her chair was waiting.
Her Majesty had made a rule or custom that after all guests had
departed, we must go to her and report everything. I suppose she was
like all women, a bit of a gossip as well as the rest; it appeared so at
any rate. She wanted to know what Mdme. Plancon said, whether she liked
the jade and whether she enjoyed her luncheon, etc.
Her Majesty was very well pleased that I had interpreted so well for her
and said: "I have never had anyone to interpret for me this way before.
Although I don't understand the language, I can see that you speak it
fluently. How did you learn? I will never let you go away from me any
more. Sometimes the foreign ladies bring their own interpreters, but
I can't understand their Chinese and have to guess at what they are
saying, especially some of the missionaries Mrs. Conger brings with her.
I am very happy to have you and want you to stay with me as long as
I live and I will arrange a marriage for you, but won't tell you just
now."
I felt very happy at what Her Majesty had said and thought I had made my
debut under very favorable auspices, and was very glad that Her Majesty
liked me; but this marriage question worried me, for nothing was farther
from my mind than this. I afterwards told my mother about it and she
told me not to worry, as I could always refuse when the time came.
When we had told Her Majesty all that Mdme. Plancon had said, she told
us we could go to our rooms, that as we had risen early that morning and
had worked very hard, we must be tired and needed rest, that she would
not need us any more that day. We courtesied to her according to the
custom when saying good night, and retired.
CHAPTER SIX--IN ATTENDANCE ON HER MAJESTY
THE building where we had our rooms, as I have said before, contained
four large rooms and a hall, and we three, my mother, sister and myself,
each took a room and gave the fourth to our maids. Her Majesty had
ordered a eunuch to accompany us and this eunuch told us that Her
Majesty had ordered four young eunuchs to attend on us and that if they
did not behave, we should tell him. He also said his name was Li, but as
there were so many by this name, including the head eunuch, it was very
hard to tell them apart.
When we arrived, which took some time, he pointed to a building on our
right and said that it was Her Majesty's own Palace and the one which
we had just left. I could not understand why it had taken us so long to
come, when the Palace was so near, and asked him about it. He told us
that our little buildings were at the left side of the Emperor's Palace
and that Her Majesty had had the entrance leading from our place to her
Palace closed up for certain reasons which he would not tell, but said:
"You see this place ought to face East instead of towards the lake." The
view on the lake was beautiful and I told him I liked it much better the
way it was. He smiled and said: "You will have to learn a lot before you
find out this wicked place." I was surprised at what the eunuch said,
but did not like to ask him any questions. He also told us that the
Emperor's Palace was just behind our place and was a large building
similar to Her Majesty's Palace. We looked and could see the trees of
his courtyard above the roof. Then he pointed to another building behind
the Emperor's, which was larger but lower than the Emperor's Palace, and
also had a large courtyard, and said it was the Young Empress's Palace.
It had two buildings flanking it on each side and the eunuch told us
that the one on the left was the Secondary Wife's bedroom. That there
had been an entrance between the two Palaces, but that Lao Fo Yeh (The
great old Buddha), as the eunuchs called Her Majesty, had blocked it up
so that the Emperor and Empress could not communicate with each other,
except through Her Majesty's own Palace. I suppose this was the way she
kept watch over them and knew at all times what they were doing. This
was all news to me and I did not know what to think of it. I was afraid
that this eunuch Li would tell me more of these curious things, so I
told him I was tired and would go to my room and rest, and he went away.
When I finally got inside my room and had a chance to look around, I saw
that it was very prettily furnished with ebonywood furniture, which was
covered with red satin cushions and the windows were hung with red silk
curtains. All the bedrooms were just alike. The kong (bed) was made of
brick covered with the same kind of wood and ran along the wall under
the front window. It had high teaster posts with slats running across on
which red curtains were hung. These kongs are very curiously built. They
are made of brick and have a hole in the front center in which fire is
placed to heat the brick in winter time. During the day a sort of table
is placed on top of the kong and removed again at night.
Shortly after we had gone to our rooms, some eunuchs came and brought
our dinner, which they placed on a table in the center of the hall. They
told us the food had been sent by Her Majesty and that she had ordered
them to tell us to make ourselves comfortable. We were so tired that we
could not eat very much and were about to retire for the night when this
eunuch Li came again and told us that we must be up at five o'clock, not
later, so I told my eunuch to knock on my window at five. Immediately
after this we went to bed, but did not sleep immediately, as we wanted
to talk over the events of the day, which had been many and strange.
After we did finally get to bed, it seemed as if we had just fallen
asleep when I heard someone knocking on my window. I woke up with a
start and asked what the matter was and a eunuch told me it was five
o'clock and time to get up.
I immediately got up and opened my window and looked out. The day was
just dawning and the sky was a beautiful deep red which was reflected
in the lake, which was perfectly calm. The scenery was lovely and in the
distance I could see Her Majesty's peony mountain, which was literally
covered with these beautiful flowers. I dressed at once and went to Her
Majesty's Palace and there met the Young Empress sitting on the veranda.
I courtesied to her as a good morning salute. The Emperor's Secondary
wife was there also, but we had been ordered not to courtesy to her,
as she was considered not to have any standing there. There was also a
number of young Court ladies, many of whom I had never seen before. The
Young Empress introduced me to them, saying that they were also Court
ladies. They were daughters of high Manchu officials and some were very
pretty and bright. The Young Empress told me that these ten (there were
just ten there) were never allowed to go near Her Majesty, as they were
just learning the court etiquette. They were all dressed very nicely in
pretty Manchu gowns, the same design as that worn by the Young Empress.
After I had been introduced to these young ladies and talked with them
a while, I went inside with the Young Empress and there met Sze Gurgur,
fourth daughter of Prince Ching and a young widow twenty-four years
of age, Yuen Da Nai Nai, widow of Her Majesty's nephew. Both were busy
getting things ready for Her Majesty. The Young Empress told us that
we must go at once to Her Majesty's bedroom and assist Her Majesty to
dress, so we went at once and courtesied to her and said: "Lao Tsu Tsung
Chi Hsiang" (old ancestor, all joy be with you). Her Majesty was still
in bed and smiled to us and asked us if we had slept well. We told her
the rooms were very comfortable, etc. I thought to myself, we had slept
very well for the little time we had, but I had not had half enough. The
day before had been very hard for us and we were quite unused to it and
it had made us very lame and sore running around so much.
She asked us if we had had any breakfast and we told her not yet.
She scolded Li for not having given the order for our breakfast to be
brought to our rooms and said: "You must not feel like strangers, order
anything you may want." Then she arose and started to dress. She put
on her white silk socks first, having slept in her pantaloons as is the
custom, and tied them at the ankle with pretty ribbon. I must tell you
here that although she always slept in her clothes, she changed them for
clean ones every day. Then she put on a pale pink shirt of soft material
and over that a short silk gown, that was embroidered with bamboo
leaves, as she always wore low heeled shoes in the morning and
consequently could not wear her long gowns. After she had dressed she
walked over to a window in front of which were two long tables covered
with toilet articles of every kind and description.
As she was washing her face and dressing her hair, she said to my mother
that she could not bear to have the servant girls, eunuchs, or old
women, touch her bed, that they were dirty, so the Court ladies must
make it. When she said this she turned to my sister and myself, we were
standing a little to one side, and said: "You two must not think for a
moment that the Court ladies do servant's work, but you know I am an old
woman and could easily be your grandmother and it will do you no harm to
work a little for me. When it comes your turn, you can superintend the
others and don't have to do the work with your own hands." Then Her
Majesty said to me: "Der Ling you are a great help to me in every way
and I make you my first lady-in-waiting. You must not work too much
for you will have to make all the arrangements for the audiences for
foreigners and you will have to interpret for me. I also want you to
look after my jewels and don't want you to do rough work at all. Roon
Ling (my sister) can choose what she likes to do. I have two more
besides you, Sze Gurgur and Yuen Da Nai Nai, making four altogether and
you must all work together. It is not necessary to be too polite to them
and if they are not nice to you, you let me know." Although I was very
happy at receiving this appointment, I knew that according to custom I
must refuse it, so I thanked Her Majesty very kindly for the honor
she had given me and said that I did not know enough to hold such an
important position and would prefer to be just an ordinary Court lady,
and that I would learn as quickly as possible to be useful to her.
She hardly let me finish what I was saying, when she laughed and said:
"Stop! don't say anything like that; you are too modest, which shows you
are very clever and not a bit conceited. I am surprised to see what a
perfect little Manchu lady you are, knowing even such small etiquette as
this, although you have spent many years outside of China." She was very
fond of making fun and liked very much to tease, and said that I could
try and if she saw that I could not do the work, she would scold me
and put someone else in my place. After all this that she had said,
I accepted the appointment and went over to her bed to see how it was
made, and I found that it was very easy work to do. As this would be
one of my duties, I watched while the bed was being fixed. First of
all, after Her Majesty had risen, the bedclothes were taken out into
the courtyard by the eunuchs and aired, then the bed, which was made of
beautifully carved wood, was brushed off with a sort of whiskbroom,
and a piece of felt placed over it. Then three thick mattresses made
of yellow brocade were placed over the felt. After this came the sheets
made of different colored soft silk, and over the whole thing was placed
a covering of plain yellow satin embroidered with gold dragons and blue
clouds. She had a great many pillows, all beautifully embroidered, which
were placed on the bed during the daytime; but had a particular one
stuffed with tea leaves on which she slept. It is said that stuffing
the pillow on which you sleep with tea leaves is good for the eyes.
In addition to all these, she had another very curiously shaped pillow
about twelve inches long in the middle of which was a hole about three
inches square. It was stuffed with dried flowers, and the idea of the
hole was that when she laid on it she could place her ear in this hole
and in this way hear any and every sound. I suppose in that way no one
could come on her unawares.
Besides this last yellow embroidered cover, there were six covers of
different colors, pale mauve, blue, pink, green and violet, and were
placed one on top of the other. Over the top of the bed was a frame
of wood handsomely carved and from this frame white crepe curtains,
beautifully embroidered, hung, and numerous little gauze silk bags
filled with scent were suspended from the carved work of the frame. The
odor from these bags was very strong and made one feel sick until they
became used to it. Her Majesty was also very fond of musk and used it on
all occasions.
It took us about fifteen minutes to make the bed, and when I had
finished, I turned around and saw that Her Majesty was dressing her
hair. I stood beside her Majesty while the eunuch was dressing it and
saw that as old as she was, she still had beautiful long hair which
was as soft as velvet and raven black. She parted it in the center and
brought it low at the back of her ears, and the back braid was brushed
up on the top of her head and made it into a tight knot. When she
had finished doing this, she was ready to have the Gu'un Dzan (Manchu
headdress) placed on and pinned through the knot with two large pins.
Her Majesty always dressed her hair first and then washed her face. She
was as fussy and particular as a young girl and would give it to the
eunuch if he did not get it just to suit her. She had dozens of bottles
of all kinds of perfume, also perfumed soap. When she had finished
washing her face, she dried it on a soft towel and sprayed it with a
kind of glycerine made of honey and flower petals. After that she put
some kind of strong scented pink powder on her face.
When she had completed her toilet, she turned to me and said: "It must
seem to you quite funny to see an old lady like me taking so much care
and pains in dressing and fixing up. Well! I like to dress myself up and
to see others dress nicely. It always gives me pleasure to see pretty
girls dressed nicely; it makes you want to be young again yourself." I
told her that she looked quite young and was still beautiful, and that
although we were young we would never dare compare ourselves with her.
This pleased her very much, as she was very fond of compliments, and
I took great pains that morning to study her and to find out what she
liked and what she didn't.
After this Her Majesty took me into another room and showed me where her
jewels were kept. This room was covered with shelves on three sides of
the room from top to bottom, on which were placed piles of ebony boxes
all containing jewels. Small yellow strips were pasted on some of the
boxes on which was written the contents. Her Majesty pointed to a row of
boxes on the right side of the room and said: "Here is where I keep my
favorite everyday jewels, and some day you must go over them and see
that they are all there. The rest are all jewels which I wear on special
occasions. There are about three thousand boxes in this room and I have
a lot more locked up in my safety room, which I will show you when I am
not busy." Then she said: "I am sorry you cannot read and write Chinese,
otherwise I would give you a list of these things and you could keep a
check on them." I was very much surprised at this and wondered who had
told her I couldn't. I was anxious to know, but did not dare to ask her,
so I told her that although I was not a scholar, I had studied Chinese
for some time and could read and write a little, that if she would give
me a list I would try and read it. She said: "That is funny, someone
told me the first day you were here, I forget now who it was, that you
could not read or write your own language at all." While she was saying
this, she was looking all around the room and I was sure she knew who it
was that had told her, but she would not tell me. Then she said: "When
we have time this afternoon, I will go over this list with you. Bring
me those five boxes on the first row of shelves." I brought the boxes to
her room and placed them on the table. She opened the first one and it
contained a most beautiful peony made of coral and jade and each petal
trembled like a real flower. This flower was made by stringing the
petals which were made of coral on very fine brass wire, also the leaves
which were made of pure jade. She took this flower and placed it on the
right side of her headdress. Then she opened another box and took
from it a magnificent jade butterfly made in the same way. This was an
invention of her own and it was done by carving the coral and jade into
petals and leaves and boring holes in the lower ends through which
brass wire was run. The other two boxes contained bracelets and rings of
different patterns. There was a pair of gold bracelets set with pearls,
another pair set with jade, with a piece of jade hanging from the end
of a small gold chain, etc. The last two contained chains of pearls, the
like of which I never saw before, and I fell in love with them at
once. Her Majesty took one which was made into a plum blossom string
by winding a circle of five pearls around a larger one, then one single
pearl, then another circle of five pearls around a large one, and so on,
making quite a long chain, which she suspended from one of the buttons
of her gown.
At this juncture one of the Court ladies came in carrying several gowns
for Her Majesty to select from. She looked at them and said that none of
them suited her, to take them back and bring more. I had a look at
them and thought they were perfectly lovely, such pretty colors and so
beautifully embroidered. In a short while the same Court lady came
back carrying more, and from these Her Majesty selected a sea-green one
embroidered all over with white storks. She put this gown on and looked
at herself in the mirror for a while, then took off her jade butterfly.
She said: "You see I am very particular about little details. The jade
butterfly is too green and it kills my gown. Put it back in the box and
bring me a pearl stork in No. 35 box." I went back to the jewel room and
fortunately found No. 35 box and brought it to her. She opened the box
and took from it a stork made entirely of pearls set in silver, the
bird's bill being made of coral. The pearls making the body of the bird
were so cleverly set that the silver could not be seen at all unless
one looked at it very closely. It was a most magnificent piece of
workmanship and the pearls were of perfect color and shape. Her Majesty
took it and placed it in her hair and did look very graceful and pretty.
Then she picked out a mauve-colored short jacket, also embroidered with
storks, which she put on over her gown. Her handkerchief and shoes
were also embroidered with storks and when she was entirely dressed she
looked like the stork lady.
Just as she had finished dressing, the Emperor Kwang Hsu came into the
bedroom dressed in his official clothes. These clothes were exactly like
other official clothes, except that he had no button on his hat and did
not wear the peacock feather. He knelt down before Her Majesty and said:
"Chin Baba, Chi Hsiang" (dear father, all joy be with you). It may seem
curious that the Emperor and all of us should call Her Majesty father,
and the reason why this was done was because Her Majesty always wanted
to be a man and compelled everyone to address her as if she were
actually one. This was only one of her many peculiarities.
I did not know whether to courtesy to the Emperor or not, not having
received any orders as to what I should do. However, I thought it better
to be too polite than not enough, so I waited until either he or Her
Majesty went out of the room, as we were not allowed to salute or
courtesy to anyone in her presence. In a little while the Emperor went
out and I followed him out into the hall and just as I was in the act
of courtesying Her Majesty came out. She looked at me in a very peculiar
way, as if she did not approve of what I had done, but said nothing. I
felt very uncomfortable and made up my mind that being too polite did
not always pay after all.
I then returned to the room again and saw a small eunuch placing several
yellow boxes on a table at the left side of the room. Her Majesty seated
herself in a large chair, which was called her little throne, and this
eunuch opened the boxes, took a yellow envelope from each box and handed
them to Her Majesty. She opened these envelopes with an ivory paper
knife and read their contents. They were memorials from the heads of the
different Boards, or from the Viceroys of the different Provinces. The
Emperor had come back and was standing at the side of this table and
after she had finished reading, she handed them over to him. While all
this was being done I stood at the back of her chair. I watched the
Emperor as the different papers were handed to him and noticed that it
did not take him very long to finish reading their contents. After he
was finished reading the papers, they were placed back in the boxes.
During all this time absolute silence was maintained. Just as they had
finished the head eunuch came in, knelt down and announced that Her
Majesty's chair was ready. She immediately got up and went out of the
house, we following her, and I took her arm while she was descending the
steps to go to her chair. When she had entered the chair to go to the
Audience Hall, the Emperor and Young Empress and we all followed in
our usual places, the eunuchs, amahs and servant girls carrying all the
things exactly the same as was done the first day I came to the Palace.
When we arrived at the Audience Hall, we took our places behind the big
screen and the audience commenced. I was very curious to find out just
how the audiences were conducted and wanted to listen to what was going
on, but the Court ladies would not leave me alone. However, when they
were all talking together with my sister, I stole away into a corner
where I could sit and rest and listen to the conversation between
the different Ministers and Her Majesty. Trust a woman for being
inquisitive.
The first part of the audience I could not hear very well, as so many
people were whispering and talking at the same time, but by peeping
through the carved-work of the screen, I could see a General talking to
Her Majesty. I also saw the members of the Grand Council come in headed
by Prince Ching, who was the Councillor-in-Chief. After the General had
finished, Her Majesty talked with Prince Ching about the appointment of
some minor officials, a list of whose names had been handed to her. She
looked over this list and spoke about several of the people, but Prince
Ching suggested some others, saying: "Although these people whose names
have been submitted to Your Majesty should receive appointments, those
that I have suggested are better fitted for the positions." Her Majesty
said: "All right, I leave it all to you." Then I heard Her Majesty say
to the Emperor, "Is that correct?" and he replied, "Yes." This finished
the Audience for the morning and the Ministers and Grand Councillors
took their leave. We came out from behind the screen to Her Majesty and
she said that she wanted to go for a walk to get some fresh air. The
servant girls brought her a mirror, placed it on a table, and Her
Majesty took off her heavy headdress, leaving the simple knot on the top
of her head, which was quite becoming. She wanted to change some of the
flower jewels and I opened a box which one of the eunuchs had brought
and took out some very dainty flowers made of pearls. I handed her one
which she placed at the side of this knot, then she selected a jade
dragonfly which she placed on the other side. She said these small
flowers were favorites of hers and she liked to wear them when she took
off her heavy headdress. I was watching her very closely and wondered
what I was going to do with the flowers she had taken off. I had not
brought the boxes to put them in, as I did not know she was going to
change again after the audience, and felt a little nervous as to what
was the right thing to do, or as to what she would say. However, I saw
a eunuch come in carrying these boxes and felt much relieved. I quickly
placed the things in the boxes where they belonged.
CHAPTER SEVEN--SOME INCIDENTS OF THE COURT
MY first day with Her Majesty was very trying as I did not know just
what she wanted or how she wanted things done, and no one seemed willing
to tell me; but by watching very closely I was soon able to grasp the
situation. After I had finished putting the things in the boxes I did
not know whether to take them back to the jewel room or not, or whether
to wait until Her Majesty ordered me, and again I was in a quandary. I
saw she was talking to my mother, so I waited a little time and finally
made up my mind I would risk it and take them back, which I did. As
I was returning I met Her Majesty in the big courtyard. She had just
changed her gown again and looked much shorter as she had also changed
her shoes for ones with lower heels. This gown was made of heavy
sky-blue crepe with no embroidery at all, just trimmed with pale pink
ribbons, and she looked very nice in it. When Her Majesty saw me, she
asked me: "Where have you been?" I told her that I had just been putting
her jewels away. Then she said: "Has anyone told you to put them away
as soon as I am finished with them? I forgot to tell you this morning,
although I had meant to." I said that no one had told me anything, that
I was afraid to have the eunuchs taking such valuable things here and
there, that I was sure that she did not want to use them any more, so I
thought it would be safer to put them away in the jewel room again. Her
Majesty looked at me and said: "I can see that these girls don't tell
you anything and I am very glad to see that you have done just the right
thing. That is why I thought someone must have told you what to do.
Anything you want to know you can ask me, but don't talk to these mean
people here." I could see from this that there must be some jealousy
among them and decided that I was well able to find my own way, as I
knew Her Majesty liked me and would help me out.
Her Majesty walked along a little way, then laughed and said to me:
"Don't I look more comfortable now? I am going for a long walk and take
lunch on the top of the hill. There is a nice place up there and I am
sure you will like it. Come, let us go."
The Emperor had gone back to his own Palace, and the head eunuch had
also disappeared. As we were walking along, Her Majesty was talking
and smiling as if she had never a care or trouble in the world, or any
important questions of state to settle. I thought from what I had seen
so far that she had a very sweet disposition. She looked back and said:
"Just see how many people are following us." I turned and saw the
same crowd that had accompanied Her Majesty earlier in the day to the
Audience Hall.
After passing out of the large courtyard on the West side, we came to a
large, long veranda running in a zig-zag fashion along the front of the
lake, and it was so long that I could not see the end of it. It was very
prettily made of solid carved work from one end to the other. Electric
lights were hanging from the ceiling at intervals, and when they were
lighted at night, made a beautiful sight.
Her Majesty was a very fast walker and we had to step lively to keep up
with her. The eunuchs and the servant girls walked on the right side and
only one of the eunuchs was allowed to walk behind us, and he was the
one who carried Her Majesty's yellow satin stool, which, like her dog,
went everywhere she did. This stool she used to rest on when taking a
walk. We walked for quite a long while and I began to feel tired, but
Her Majesty, as old as she was, was still walking very fast and did not
appear to be the least bit tired. She asked me if I liked the Palace and
whether I would be satisfied to live with her, etc. I told her that it
was a great pleasure for me to serve her, that it had been my dream
for years, and now that my dream had come true, I could not help but be
satisfied.
We finally arrived at the place where the marble boat was kept, and I
was about finished. I never saw such vitality in an old woman in my life
as Her Majesty had, and it was no wonder that she had ruled this vast
Empire of China so successfully for so many years.
This boat was magnificent, being one mass of carved work, but the inside
was all spoiled. Her Majesty showed us all over the boat, and whilst we
were looking at the ruin, she said: "Look at those colored glasses in
the windows and these beautiful paintings. They were all spoiled by the
foreign troops in 1900. I don't intend to have it repaired as I don't
want to forget the lesson I have learned and this is a good reminder."
After we had been standing there a few minutes, a eunuch who had been
carrying the famous satin stool, came forward, and Her Majesty sat
down to rest. While we were talking I noticed two large and very
fancy-looking boats approaching us, with several smaller ones coming
along behind. As they came nearer I saw that they were also very
beautifully made, and looked like floating pagodas of beautifully
carved natural wood. The windows of the pagodas were hung with red gauze
curtains and all was trimmed with silk. Her Majesty said: "There are the
boats. We must go over to the west side of the lake and have luncheon."
Her Majesty got up and walked to the edge of the lake, two eunuchs
supporting her, one at each side. She stepped into the boat and we all
followed her example. The inside of the boat was very nicely furnished
with carved ebony furniture with blue satin cushions, one with many
pots of flowers on both sides of the window. There were two more cabins
behind this sitting room. Her Majesty told me to go in to see those two
rooms. One little room was a dressing room full of toilet articles. The
other one had two couches and several small chairs for Her Majesty to
rest whenever she felt tired. Her Majesty sat on her throne and ordered
us to sit on the floor. The eunuchs brought in red satin cushions for us
to sit upon. To sit on the floor is all right for Chinese clothes, but
of course it was out of the question with Paris gowns, and I felt very
uncomfortable, but did not like to say so. I wanted to change into
Manchu clothes, for I knew they were comfortable and easy to work in,
but having received no order from Her Majesty, I did not dare to suggest
it. Her Majesty noticed how very uncomfortable we looked sitting on the
floor. She said: "You can stand up if you want to and just watch those
boats following us." I put my head out of the window and noticed the
Young Empress and several other Court ladies were in the other boat.
They waved to me, and I waved back. Her Majesty laughed and said to me:
"I give you this apple to throw to them." While saying this she took one
from the big plates that stood upon the center table. I tried very hard,
but the apple did not reach the other boat, but went to the bottom of
the lake. Her Majesty laughed and told me to try again, but I failed.
Finally, she took one and threw it herself. It went straight to the
other boat and hit one of the ladies' head. We all laughed quite
heartily. Then I began to enjoy myself. There were several open boats
full of eunuchs, and another one of servant girls, amahs and the rest
with Her Majesty's luncheon. The lake was beautiful and looked so green
in the sun. I told Her Majesty that this color reminded me of the sea.
She said: "You have travelled so much, and yet you have not had enough,
but are still thinking of the sea. You must not go abroad any more, but
stay with me. I want you to enjoy this sailing on this lake instead of
the rough sea." I promised her that I would be only too happy to stay
with her. I must say the truth, I did enjoy the lovely scenery, the
beautiful weather, superb sunshine, with Her Majesty so kind to me and
talking to me in such a motherly way made me love her more and more
every minute I was there. I was so extremely happy there that even Paris
pleasures had gone out of my memory entirely.
At last we arrived at another part of the lake. This was more of a
stream, very narrow, just wide enough for one boat to pass. On both
sides of the bank were planted drooping willow trees that reminded me of
the Chinese Fairy tales I have read. This time I saw the servant girls,
amahs, and also eunuchs carrying boxes, walking on both sides of the
shore. Only two boats were going then, the Young Empress' and ours.
Her Majesty said: "We will arrive at the bottom of the hill in a few
minutes." When we came near the shore I saw her yellow chair and several
red chairs waiting. We landed and walked to the chairs. I watched Her
Majesty get into hers and noticed this was not the same chair she used
this morning. This little one was, of course, of yellow, with yellow
poles, and two eunuchs carried it, with yellow rope across their
shoulders, and four eunuchs supported the poles, one on each corner of
the chair. They were just going to raise her chair up when she said: "Yu
tai tai (Lady Yu) I give you and your daughters special favor and give
you a red chair with red cord that I have given to only a few people."
The Young Empress looked at us, which I understood at once was meant for
us to kowtow to her, which we did, and waited until the Empress got into
hers. Then we went to search for ours. To my surprise our own eunuchs
were standing waiting beside our chairs. On the poles I noticed that
my name was written and I asked our eunuch the reason. He said that Her
Majesty gave the order the night before. It was a lovely ride going to
the top of the hill. I saw Her Majesty's chair in front, and the Young
Empress'. They looked to me quite dangerous in ascending that way, and
the men at the back of the chair had to raise the poles above their
heads so as to make the chair the same level in ascending. I was quite
nervous and was very much afraid that they might fall off and injure me.
Our eunuchs were walking beside our chairs. I said to one of them that
I was afraid the chair bearers might slip. He told me to look back of my
chair, which I did, and to my surprise they had the poles raised up also
above their heads, and I did not feel it at all. He told me that these
chair bearers practice for such purposes and that there was no danger
at all. It made my heart stop beating looking back and seeing the other
Court ladies in their chairs way below mine, the eunuchs and servant
girls walking, for fear I might fall off at any time. At last we arrived
at the top of the hill. We helped Her Majesty to alight and followed
her into the most lovely building I ever saw, the best one in the Summer
Palace to my idea (name of this pavilion, Ching Fo Ker). This Palace had
only two rooms, with windows on every side. One could see everywhere.
Her Majesty used one large one to take her luncheon in and the other as
a toilet room. I noticed that wherever we went we found Her Majesty's
toilet room. Her Majesty took us around the compound and showed us the
lovely flowers planted everywhere. One of the young eunuchs told me that
Her Majesty's dainties were ready. That was my first day of real work. I
went out and found two large yellow boxes of different kinds of candies
and fruits, as I have before mentioned. I carried two plates at a time,
and finished in nine times, placing them on a square table near her. She
was talking to my mother then about flowers. I noticed that although she
was talking, she was watching me at the same time. I placed the plates
upon the table very carefully, and already having noticed the day before
what were her favorite dishes, and placed these near her. She smiled
at me and said: "You have done it very nicely. And how do you know that
these are my favorites and have placed them near me? Who told you?" I
replied that no one had told me anything and that I had noticed the day
before what Lao Tsu Tsung liked (according to the Manchu custom one must
address a superior or one's parents in the third person). Her Majesty
said: "I can see you use your heart in everything (in China people say
heart instead of head) and are not like the crowd I have here; they
haven't the brains of a bird." She was soon busy eating, and gave me
some candies, and told me to eat right there in her presence. Of course
I never forgot to thank her, for I thought I had rather thank her too
much than too little. She told me: "Whenever I give you small things you
need not kowtow. Just say: 'Hsieh Lao Tsu Tsung Shang' (Thank the old
ancestor), that is enough." After a little while she finished eating,
and told me to take the dishes away. She said: "To-day is your day, so
these things are yours. Take them out and sit down on the veranda and
enjoy yourself. You see I could not eat all. There are lots of things
left. If you like you can tell your own eunuch to send them to your
room." I placed the little dishes back in the boxes and took them to the
veranda. There I placed them upon the table and told the Young Empress
to eat some. I did not know whether it was right to offer them to her or
not and thought I could not do her any harm, even if I tried. She said
all right, that she would eat some. I took a piece of candy and had just
put it into my mouth when I heard Her Majesty calling my name. I hurried
in and found her sitting at her table ready to take her lunch. She said:
"What else did Mdme. Plancon say yesterday? Was she really pleased? Do
you think they, the foreigners, really like me? I don't think so; on the
contrary I know they haven't forgotten the Boxer Rising in Kwang Hsu's
26th year. I don't mind owning up that I like our old ways the best, and
I don't see any reason why we should adopt the foreign style. Did any of
the foreign ladies ever tell you that I am a fierce-looking old woman?"
I was very much surprised that she should call me in and ask me such
questions during her meal. She looked quite serious and it seemed to
me she was quite annoyed. I assured her that no one ever said anything
about Her Majesty but nice things. The foreigners told me how nice she
was, and how graceful, etc. This seemed to please her, and she smiled
and said: "Of course they have to tell you that, just to make you feel
happy by saying that your sovereign is perfect, but I know better. I
can't worry too much, but I hate to see China in such a poor condition.
Although the people around me seem to comfort me by telling that almost
every nation feels very friendly towards China, I don't think that is
true. I hope we will be strong some day." While she was saying this I
noticed her worried expression. I did not know what to say, but tried to
comfort her by saying that that time will come, and we are all looking
forward to it. I wanted to advise her on some points, but seeing that
she was angry, I thought I had better not make any suggestions that
day, but wait until I had another opportunity. I felt sorry for her, and
would have given anything in the world to help her by telling what the
general opinion of her was so as to let her know the truth, which no one
dared to tell her. Something told me to be silent. I kept thinking all
the time she was talking to me, and finally made up my mind that the
time was not yet ripe for me to make any suggestion. I had grown to love
her very much, so I wanted to take care not to offend her; that would
probably finish my ambition. I wanted to study her first thoroughly and
then try to influence her to reform China.
I stood all the time while she was eating. She got up from the table
and handed me her napkin (this napkin was made of a piece of silk a yard
square, woven in many colors). One corner was turned in, and a golden
butterfly was fastened to it. It had a hook at the back of this
butterfly so as to hook on her collar. She said: "I am sure you must be
hungry. Go and tell the Young Empress and the rest of the people to come
and eat. You can eat anything you want from these tables, so eat all you
can." I was very, very hungry. Just imagine, I had been up since 5:00
o'clock and had only a light breakfast, and had walked a great deal.
It was almost noon when Her Majesty sat down at her table. She ate so
slowly, too. While I stood there talking to her I thought she would
never finish. She ate a good meal. The Young Empress stood at the head
of the table, and we all stood on either side. We did not like to be
forward, so we stood at the other end of the table. The food was very
much the same as the first day we were there. Her Majesty came out from
the inner room, had just finished washing her face and hands, and had
changed into another gown. This one was simple, but very pretty. It was
woven with pink and gray raw silks, which gave it a changeable light
whenever she moved. She came out and said: "I want to see you people
eat; why is it that you are standing at the end of the table, the best
dishes are not there? All of you come over here and eat near the Young
Empress." So we moved from our end of the table to the other. Her
Majesty stood near me, and pointed to a smoked fish and wanted me to try
it, as it was her favorite, and said: "Make yourselves at home. You know
you have to fight your own battles here with this crowd. Of course you
can come and tell me if anyone does not treat you fair." Her Majesty
then went out, saying that she would walk a bit. I noticed that some of
the court ladies did not look pleased, seeing that Her Majesty paid so
much attention to us. I could see they were a little jealous of me, but
that did not worry me in the least.
After we got through our luncheon, I followed the Young Empress, for it
was all so new to me, and I did not know what I must do--whether to join
Her Majesty or not. After seeing that they were jealous of me, I paid
strict attention to everything, so as not to make any mistake in doing
my work and let them have the satisfaction of laughing at me. I would
not give them the chance. I heard Her Majesty talking to the eunuchs who
looked after the garden, about some branches which ought to be cut down,
saying they were lazy. So we went to her. She said to us: "You see
I have to look after everything myself, if not, my flowers would be
ruined. I can't depend on them at all. I wonder what they are good for.
They ought to look around every day and cut down the dead branches
and leaves. They have not been punished for several days and they are
looking forward to it." She laughed and said: "I will not disappoint
them, but give them all they wish to have." I thought these people must
be idiots, looking forward to a whipping, and wondered who would whip
them. Her Majesty turned to me and said: "Have you ever witnessed such
an operation?" I told her that I had, having seen the convicts being
whipped at a Magistrate's Yamen when I was a little girl living at
Shansi (on the Yangtsze). She said: "That is nothing. The convicts are
not half so wicked as these eunuchs. Of course they deserve a heavier
punishment when they are bad." Her Majesty said that I should learn to
play dice with her, as she never had enough people to play with, so we
went back to the same room where she had taken her lunch. A square
table was in the middle of this large room and a little throne of Her
Majesty's, facing south (her favorite direction). Her Majesty sat on her
throne and said to me: "I will show you how to play this game. Do you
think you know enough Chinese to read this map?" I noticed a large map,
the same size as the table, and laid upon it, drawn in different colors.
In the center of the map was written the direction of the game. It said:
"This game is called the 'Eight Fairies Travel across the Sea.' The
names are Lu Hsien, Chang Hsien, Li Hsien, Lan Hsien, Hang Hsien, Tsao
Hsien and Hain Hsien. These seven were masculine fairies. Hor Hsien was
the only lady fairy." This map was the map of the Chinese Empire, and
the names of the different provinces were written on the drawing. There
were eight pieces of round ivory, about one inch and a half in diameter
and a quarter of an inch thick. The names of these fairies were engraved
upon them. This game could be played either by eight people or four
people, when each person had to take two fairies' places, instead of
one. A porcelain bowl was placed in the center of the map, to compare
the point by throwing six dice into the bowl. For instance, four people
play. One throws these six dice into the bowl and counts the points on
them. The highest that one could get was 36, and should 36 be thrown the
fairy should go to Hangehow to enjoy the beautiful scenery. This person
threw dice for Lu Hsien and had 36 points and placed this ivory piece of
Lu Hsien on Hangehow upon the map. The same person has to throw another
time for another fairy, so each person throws twice if four people play
the game, and once if played by eight. These different points count
different provinces. They are counted thus:--Six dice alike. One pair
in six dice, to three pairs. The lowest was the double 1, 2, 3. If
any unfortunate fairy got this he should go on exile and be left out
altogether. Any one of the fairies that travelled round the map to reach
the Imperial Palace, the first, was the winner.
I read this to Her Majesty. She seemed to be quite pleased, and said: "I
had no idea that you could read so well. This game was my own invention
and I taught three Court ladies to play. I had a very hard time teaching
them. I also taught them how to read Chinese in order to play the game,
but it took them so long to learn anything that I got quite discouraged
before I got through with them. I am sure you know how to play it
now." I was very much surprised to hear that these Court ladies were as
ignorant as this. I thought they must be excellent scholars, so did not
dare to show my knowledge of Chinese literature. We began to play the
game. Her Majesty was lucky. The two fairies held by her were way ahead
of ours. One of the Court ladies said to me: "You will be surprised to
see that Lao Tsu Tsung is always the winner." Her Majesty smiled and
said to me: "You will never be able to catch my fairies." She said: "You
are the first day here to play this game and if any of your fairies beat
any of mine I will give you a nice present, so hurry up." I thought
I could never get ahead of her fairies, for they were so far ahead
of mine, but I tried hard, as Her Majesty told me to call out for the
points I wanted. I did, but it came out something so different that it
amused her a great deal. I had no idea how long we were playing this
game. We counted who came next, and that was one of my fairies, so Her
Majesty said to me: "I was sure you could not beat me, as no one could.
Seeing that yours are next to mine, I will give you the present just the
same." While she was saying this she told a servant girl to bring her
some embroidered handkerchiefs. This girl brought several colored ones
to her, and she asked me what color I preferred. She handed me a pink
one and a pale blue one, all embroidered with purple wisteria, and said:
"These two are the best, and I want you to take them." I was just going
to thank her by bowing to the ground, but I found that my legs could not
move. I tried hard and succeeded finally, with difficulty. Her Majesty
laughed very heartily at me and said: "You see you are not accustomed to
standing so long and you cannot bend your knees any more." Although my
legs were sore I thought I had better not show it, but smiled and told
her that it was nothing, only my legs were a little stiff, that was all.
She said: "You must go and sit on the veranda and rest a minute." I was
only too glad to sit down, so I went to the veranda and found the Young
Empress sitting there with several Court ladies. The Young Empress said:
"You must be tired standing so long. Come and sit near me." My legs were
very stiff and my back was tired. Of course Her Majesty did not know how
uncomfortable we were while she was sitting on her cozy throne. Foreign
attire is out of the question for the Imperial Palace of Peking. I had
hoped that Her Majesty would tell us to change into our Manchu gowns. I
noticed that she asked many questions every day about foreign costumes,
and she said: "The foreign costume is not any prettier than ours and
I should say they must be quite uncomfortable round one's waist. I
wouldn't be squeezed that way for anything." Although she was saying
such things she did not suggest that we should give them up, so we had
to wait patiently for her orders. The Young Empress took her watch out
of her pocket, and said to me: "This game has lasted just two hours." I
said to her that it seemed to me longer than that. While we were talking
I saw our own eunuchs bringing four round boxes, made of thin board,
carried at each end of bamboo poles. They put them down near where we
sat, and one of them brought me a cup of tea. When my mother and sister
came the same eunuch brought another two cups, and there were several
Court ladies talking with us. This eunuch did not give them any. I
noticed at the other end of this long veranda there were another two
boxes, exactly the same as these, and a big tall eunuch made tea and
brought it to the Young Empress in a yellow porcelain cup, with a silver
saucer and a silver top cover. He did not give any to the others.
I was puzzled when one of the Court ladies sitting next to me said:
"Would you mind telling Wang (our head eunuch) to give me a cup of your
tea, just to save me the trouble to go and get it from the small room at
the end of this long veranda?" I gave her such a surprised look, for I
did not know that this was our tea, but I thought I'd just tell Wang to
bring her a cup, and find out afterwards the reason, for I would give
anything in the world rather than appear ignorant before those people.
While we were talking Her Majesty came out. Before she reached the
veranda I got up and told the Young Empress that Her Majesty was coming.
I saw her first because I sat facing her back hall. Her Majesty said to
us all: "It is almost three o'clock now, and I am going to rest a while.
Let us leave here." We all stood in a line for her to enter her chair,
and then we went to ours. It was quite a fast ride and we got out of
our chairs before arriving at the courtyard of her own Palace. We walked
ahead of her chair and formed into another line for her to alight. She
walked to her bedroom and we all followed. A eunuch brought her a cup of
hot water and another brought a bowl of sugar. She took her golden spoon
and took two teaspoonfuls of sugar and put it into her cup of hot water,
and drank it very slowly. She said: "You know before one goes to sleep
or ever lies down, sugar water will quiet one's nerves. I always take
it, and find it very good indeed." She took the flowers off from her
headdress and I fixed them back in their boxes at once, and placed them
in the jewel-room. When I came out of this jewel-room she was in bed
already, and said to us: "You all go and rest a while. I don't need you
now."
CHAPTER EIGHT--THE COURT LADIES
WE retired from her room, but I noticed that two of the Court ladies did
not come out with us. One of them said to me: "I am glad that I can rest
a bit to-day, for I have been sitting three afternoons in succession."
At first I did not know what she meant. Then she said: "Oh, your turn
has not come yet. We don't know whether you received the order or not.
You know two of us must stay with Her Majesty during her afternoon
siesta, to watch the eunuchs and the servant girls." I thought that was
the funniest thing I had ever heard of, and wondered how many people
would be in her room. The Young Empress said: "We had better go at once
and rest ourselves, otherwise Her Majesty will be up again before we get
the chance." Of course I had not the least idea how long she slept. So
we went back to our rooms. I did not realize how tired I was until I sat
down in my room. I felt finished and awfully sleepy at the same time,
for I was not used to getting up at 5 o'clock. Everything was so new
to me. As I sat there my thoughts wandered to Paris, and I thought how
strange it was that I used to go to bed at 5 o'clock after the dances,
and here I had to get up at such a time. All the surroundings seemed new
to me, seeing the eunuchs running here and there waiting on us, as if
they were chambermaids. I told them that I didn't need them any more. I
wanted them to go out of the room so that I could lie down a bit. They
brought us tea and different kinds of candies, and asked what else was
wanted. I was just going to change into a comfortable dress, when the
eunuch came in and informed me that "Yo ker lila" (visitors have come),
and two Court ladies came, and another girl of about seventeen came
in. I had seen her that very morning when I came to the Palace, busy
working, but I was not introduced to her. These two girls said: "We have
come to see you and also to find out if you are comfortable." I thought
they were kind to come and see me that way, but I did not like their
faces. They introduced this mean-looking girl to me and told me her
name was Chun Shou (Graceful Long Life). She did not look as if her life
would last long, being so thin and delicate. She looked sick and worn
out to me. I did not know who she was. She courtesied to me and I
returned to her, in a sort of half way. (I will explain about the
courtesy.)
(To Her Majesty, the Emperor and the Young Empress, we went down and
bent our knees, while we stood upright to the people of lower rank
than ourselves. In this case one must always wait while the inferior
courtesies first, and bend the knees a little bit in return. This was
the way I returned Chun Shou's courtesy to me.) The two girls then
said "Chun Shou's father is only a small official, so she has not much
standing at the Court. She is not exactly a Court lady, but she is not
a servant girl either." I almost laughed right out, to hear such a funny
statement, and wondered what she must be. I saw her sitting down with
the Court ladies that very morning, so of course I asked her to sit
down, too. These two Court ladies asked me if I felt tired, and how I
liked the Empress Dowager. I told them that Her Majesty was the most
lovely lady I had ever seen, and that I already loved her very much,
although I had only been there a few days. They looked at Chun Shou and
exchanged smiles. They did that in such a peculiar way that it annoyed
me. They asked: "Do you think you would like to live in this place, and
how long do you intend to stay?" I said I would love to stay long, and
would do my best to wait on Her Majesty, and be useful to her, for she
had been so kind towards us in the short time we had been there, and
besides, it was my duty to serve my sovereign and country. They laughed
and said: "We pity you, and are sorry for you. You must not expect any
appreciation here, no matter how hard you work. If you are really going
to do as you have said just now, you will be disliked by everybody."
I did not know what they were talking about, or what their conversation
referred to. I thought this was so strange that I had better put a stop
to it, so I immediately changed the subject. I asked them who dressed
their hair, and who made their shoes for them, as they had asked me.
They answered my questions by saying that their maids did everything for
them. Chun Shou said to these two girls: "Tell her everything about this
Palace, and I am sure she will change her mind when she actually sees
things for herself." I didn't like this Chun Shou, and her face didn't
impress me. She was a little bit of a thing, tiny head with thin lips.
When she laughed one could only hear the noise she made; no expression
was on her face at all. I was just going to say something to them, so as
not to give them the opportunity of gossiping, but found they were too
cunning. They noticed that I tried every way to stop them, so they said:
"Now let us tell you everything. No one else will know. We like you very
much and we want to give you some warning, so as to be able to protect
yourself whenever you are in trouble." I told them that I would take
great care to do my work and didn't think that I would ever get into
trouble. They laughed and said: "That makes no difference. Her Majesty
will find fault." I could not believe these things that they said, and
intended to tell them that I refused to hear such statements, but I
thought I had better listen to what they had to say first and not to
offend them, for I never believed in making enemies. I then told them
that it would be impossible for so sweet and kind-hearted a person like
Lao Tsu Tsung (the old ancestor) to find fault with such helpless girls
as we were, for we were her people, and she could do anything she liked
with us. They said: "You don't know, and have no idea how wicked this
place is; such torture and suffering one could not imagine. We are sure
that you think you must be happy to be with the great Empress Dowager,
and proud to be her Court Lady. Your day hasn't come yet, for you all
are new to her. Yes, she is extremely kind to you just now, but wait
until she gets tired of you and then see what she will do. We have had
enough, and know what the Court life is. Of course you must have heard
that Li Lien Ying (the head eunuch) rules this Palace behind Lao Tsu
Tsung's back. We are all afraid of him. He pretends that he cannot
influence Lao Tsu Tsung, but we always know the result after a long
conversation consulting how to punish anyone. If any of us do anything
wrong, we always go to him and beg him to help us out. Then he says he
has no power to influence Her Majesty, and also that he dare not tell
her much, for she would scold him. We hate all the eunuchs, they are
such bad people. We can see very plainly they are awfully polite to you
because they can see that you are in favor. To receive such rudeness
from them, constantly, as we do, is unbearable.
"Lao Tsu Tsung is very changeable. She may like one person to-day,
to-morrow she hates this same person worse than poison. She has moods,
and has no appreciation whatsoever. Even Chu Tzu, the Young Empress (Chu
Tzu means Mistress, that is to say she was mistress of us all, for the
Manchus were considered by the sovereign as slaves) is afraid of Li Lien
Ying, and has to be very nice to him. In fact, we all have to be polite
to him." They talked so long that I thought they would never finish.
About this time Wang came in and brought tea for us. Suddenly I heard
people howling in the distance, so I asked Wang what was the matter. The
girls were listening also and a eunuch came flying in and told us Lao
Fo Yeh chin la (The Great Buddha wakes up). The girls got up and said
we must all go to see her, so they went. I was not at all pleased with
their visit, and wished they hadn't come, especially as they told me
such horrible things. It made me quite sad to listen to the awful way
they talked about Her Majesty. I loved her the first day I was there,
and made up my mind to forget everything they had told me.
I was cross also because I didn't have time to change my clothes, and
had to go up to Her Majesty at once. I went into her bedroom, and found
her sitting upon the bed cross-legged, with a small table placed on the
bed in front of her. She smiled and asked: "Have you had a good rest?
Did you sleep at all?" I said that I was not sleepy, and could not sleep
in the daytime. She said: "When you are old like me, you will be able to
sleep at any time. Just now you are young, and fond of play. I think you
must have been on the hills to gather flowers, or walked too much, for
you look tired." I could only say "Yes." The two Court ladies who had
just been talking nonsense about Her Majesty came in, to assist in
handing her the toilet articles. I looked at them, and felt ashamed for
them to face her, after having said so many disagreeable things. Her
Majesty washed her face and combed her hair, and a servant girl brought
her fresh flowers, of white jasmine and roses. Her Majesty stuck them in
her hair and said to me: "I am always fond of fresh flowers--better than
jade and pearls. I love to see the little plants grow, and I water them
myself. I have been so busy ever since you came that I haven't been able
to visit my plants. Tell them to get the dinner ready and I will take a
walk afterwards." I came out of her room and gave the eunuch the order.
As usual we brought little dainties to her. By this time Her Majesty was
dressed and was sitting in the large hall, playing solitaire with her
dominoes. The eunuch laid the tables as usual, and Her Majesty stopped
play, and commenced to eat. She asked me: "How do you like this kind
of life?" I told her that I very much enjoyed being with her. She said:
"What kind of a place is this wonderful Paris I have heard so much
about? Did you enjoy yourself while you were there, and do you wish to
go back again? It must be hard for you people to leave China for three
or four years, and I suppose you were all pleased when you received the
order to come back, after your father's term was finished."
The only thing I could say was "Yes," because it wouldn't be nice to
tell her that I was awfully sorry to leave Paris. She said: "I think we
have everything in China, only the life is different. What is dancing?
Someone told me that two people hold hands and jump all over the room.
If that is the case I don't see any pleasure in it at all. Do you have
to jump up and down with men? They told me that old women, with white
hair, dance, too." I explained to her about the balls given by the
President, and all the private dances, and also all about the masquerade
balls, etc. Her Majesty said: "I don't like this masquerade ball because
you don't know whom you are dancing with if they are wearing a mask." I
explained to her how carefully the people issued their invitations, and
that anyone who behaved badly could never enter into high society.
Her Majesty said: "I would like to see how you jump, can you show me a
little?" I went in search of my sister, and found her busy talking to
the Young Empress. I told her that Her Majesty wished to see how people
dance, and that we must show her. The Young Empress and all the Court
ladies heard this, and all said that they also wished to see. My sister
said that she had noticed a large gramophone in Her Majesty's bedroom,
and that perhaps we could find some music. I thought that was a good
idea, and went to ask her for the gramophone. She said: "Oh, must you
jump with music?" I almost laughed when she said that, and told her it
was much nicer with music, as otherwise one could not keep in time.
She ordered the eunuchs to have the gramophone brought to the hall,
and said: "You jump while I take my dinner." We looked over a lot of
records, but they were all Chinese songs, but at last we found a waltz,
so we started to dance. We could see that a lot of people were looking
at us, who perhaps thought that we were crazy. When we had finished we
found Her Majesty laughing at us. She said: "I could never do that. Are
you not dizzy turning round and round? I suppose your legs must be
very tired also. It is very pretty, and just like the girls used to do
centuries ago in China. I know that it is difficult and one ought to
have any amount of grace to do it, but I don't think it would look nice
to see a man dancing with a girl like that. I object to the hand around
the girl's waist; I like to see the girls dance together. It would never
do for China for a girl to get too close to a man. I know the foreigners
don't seem to think about that at all. It shows that they are broader
minded than us. Is it true that the foreigners don't respect their
parents at all-that they could beat their parents and drive them out of
the house?" I told her that it was not so, and that someone had given
her wrong ideas about foreigners. Then she said: "I know that perhaps
sometimes one among the commonest class do that, and that people are apt
to take it wrong, and conclude that all foreigners treat their parents
that way. Now I see just the same thing done by the common people in
China." I wondered who had told her such nonsense and made her believe
it.
After we had taken our dinner it was just half-past five, and Her
Majesty said she would take a walk along the long veranda, so we
followed her. She showed me her flowers, and said that she had planted
them herself. Whenever Her Majesty went anywhere there was always a lot
of attendants following her, exactly the same as when she went to the
morning audiences. When we reached the end of this long veranda, which
took us a quarter of an hour to walk, Her Majesty ordered her stool to
be brought into one of the summer houses. These summer houses were built
of nothing but bamboo, all the furniture being made of different shaped
bamboo. Her Majesty sat down, and one of the eunuchs brought tea and
honeysuckle flowers. She ordered the eunuchs to give us tea also. Her
Majesty said: "This is my simple way of enjoying life. I love to see the
country scenery. There are a great many pretty places which I will
show you and I am sure that after you have seen them you will not like
foreign countries any more. There is no scenery in the world which can
beat the Chinese. Some returned Ministers from abroad said to me that
the trees and mountains in foreign countries looked ugly and savage. Is
that true?" I concluded right away that someone had wished to please
her by saying things about foreigners, so I told her that I had been in
almost every country, and had found lovely scenery, but of course it was
different from China. While we were talking Her Majesty said that she
felt chilly and asked: "Are you cold? You see you have your own eunuchs,
they are all standing around, and have nothing to do. Next time tell
them to carry your wraps along with you. I think that foreign clothes
must be quite uncomfortable either too warm or too cold. I don't see how
you can eat, having your waist squeezed that way." Her Majesty got up
and we all went on walking slowly towards her own Palace. She sat down
on her favorite little throne in the hall and started to play solitaire.
We came out on the veranda, and the Young Empress said to us: "You must
be tired, for I know you are not used to doing such hard work all day
long without stopping. You had better wear Manchu clothes, because they
are comfortable and easy to work in. Look at your long train; you have
to take it up in your hands while walking."
I told her that I would be only too pleased to change the clothes, but
that not having received an order from Her Majesty I could not make any
suggestions. The Young Empress said: "No, don't ask anything, and I am
sure Her Majesty will tell you to change by and by. Just now she wishes
to see your Paris gowns, because she wants to know how foreign ladies
dress on different occasions. She thought that some of the ladies came
to the Garden Party dressed in woolen clothes. We thought that foreign
ladies were not so extravagant as we are until we met Mdme. Plancon the
other day. Do you remember what Her Majesty said to you? 'That Mdme.
Plancon was so different from many ladies she had met, and also dressed
differently.'" It was a chiffon dress, with hand paintings, which Mdme.
Plancon wore, which pleased Her Majesty very much. While I was talking
with the Young Empress all the electric lights turned up, so I went to
Her Majesty to see if she needed anything. She said: "Let us play a game
of dice before I go to bed." We began to play the same thing as we had
done in the afternoon. Her Majesty won another game, this time it took
only an hour to finish the game. Her Majesty said to me: "Why can't you
win once?" I knew she wanted to tease, so I said that my luck was bad.
She laughed and said: "To-morrow you try to put your stocking on wrong
side out; that is a sure sign of winning." I told her that I would,
and I knew that pleased her. During the short time I was there I kept
studying her most of the while. I could see nothing would make her
happier than for me to obey her orders. Her Majesty said that she felt
tired, and that we must bring her milk. She said to me: "I want you to
burn incense sticks and bow to the ground every night to the Buddha in
the next room before I go to bed. I hope you are not a Christian, for if
you are I can never feel as if you are mine at all. Do tell me that you
are not." I did not expect that question at all, and I must say that it
was a very difficult question to answer. For my own protection I had
to say that I had nothing to do with the Christians. I felt guilty at
having deceived her that way, but it was absolutely necessary, and there
was no other way out of it. I knew that I had to answer her question
at once, because it would never do for her to see any hesitation, which
would arouse her suspicions. Although my face showed nothing, my heart
stopped beating for a while. I felt ashamed to have fooled her. The
earliest training I had was never to be ashamed to tell the truth. When
Her Majesty heard me say that I was not a Christian, she smiled
and said: "I admire you; although you have had so much to do with
foreigners, yet you did not adopt their religion. On the contrary, you
still keep to your own. Be strong and keep it as long as you live. You
have no idea how glad I am now, for I suspected you must believe in the
foreign God. Even if you don't want to, they can make you believe it.
Now I am ready for bed."
We helped her to undress, and I, as usual, put away her jewels, and
noticed she wore only one pair of jade bracelets to sleep. She changed
into her bed clothes and lay down between the silk covers and said
to us: "You can go now." We courtesied to her and withdrew from her
bedroom. Out in the hall there was on the cold stone floor six eunuchs.
They were the watchmen and must not sleep at all during the night. In
her bedroom were two eunuchs, two servant girls, two old women servants
and sometimes two Court ladies. These people also must not sleep. The
two girls massaged her legs every night, and the two women were there to
watch the girls, the two eunuchs to watch the two old women, and the two
Court ladies to watch them all, in case they did any mischief. They all
took turns, and that was the reason why sometimes two Court ladies must
sit overnight when it happened that the eunuchs were not reliable. Her
Majesty trusted the Court ladies the most. I was never more surprised
in my life than when one of these six eunuchs told me in the hall, for I
had asked what they were all doing there.
Later on one of the Court ladies said to me that it was customary for
them to take turns to attend at Her Majesty's bedchamber in the morning
to wake her up, and that I should take my turn the next morning and my
sister the following morning. While saying this she smiled in a most
peculiar way. I did not understand at the time, but found out later. I
asked her what I should do to wake Her Majesty, and she said: "There
is no particular way, you will have to use your own judgment; but be
careful not to make her angry. It was my turn this morning. I knew that
she was very tired, having had a very trying time the day before, so I
had to make a little more noise than usual when waking her. She was very
angry and scolded me dreadfully when she arose, as it was rather late.
This very often happens when Her Majesty gets up late, as she always
says that we do not make enough noise to wake her. However, I don't
think she will do this to you, just now, as you are new here; but wait
until you have been here a few months." What this Court lady said to me
worried me quite considerably; but from what I had seen of Her Majesty
so far, I could not believe that she would be angry with anyone who was
doing her duty properly.
CHAPTER NINE--THE EMPEROR KWANG HSU
THE next day I arose earlier than usual and dressed in a great hurry, as
I feared I might be late. When I got to Her Majesty's Palace there were
a few Court ladies there sitting on the veranda. They smiled and asked
me to sit down with them as it was still too early, being only five
o'clock. I had been told to wake Her Majesty at five thirty. The Young
Empress came up a few minutes later and we all courtesied and wished her
"good morning." After talking with us a few minutes, she asked if Her
Majesty was awake and which one of us was on duty that day. When I
informed her that it was my turn, she immediately ordered me to go to
Her Majesty's room at once. I went very quietly and found some servant
girls standing about and one Court lady, who was sitting on the floor.
She had been on duty all night. When she saw me she got up and whispered
to me, that now that I had come, she would go and change her clothes and
brush up a bit, and for me not to leave the room until Her Majesty was
awake. After this Court lady had gone, I went near to the bed and said:
"Lao Tsu Tsung, it is half-past five." She was sleeping with her face
toward the wall, and without looking to see who had called her, she
said: "Go away and leave me alone. I did not tell you to call me at
half-past five. Call me at six," and immediately went off to sleep
again. I waited until six and called her again. She woke and said: "This
is dreadful. What a nuisance you are." After she had said this, she
looked around and saw me standing by the bed. "Oh! it is you, is it? Who
told you to come and wake me?" I replied: "One of the Court ladies told
me that it was my turn to be on duty in Lao Tsu Tsung's bedchamber."
"That is funny. How dare they give orders without receiving instructions
from me first? They know that this part of their duty is not very
pleasant and have put it off on you because they know you are new here."
I made no reply to this. I got along as best I could that day and found
it no easy matter, as Her Majesty was very exacting in everything.
However, the next time I managed to divert her attention to things new
or interesting in order to take her mind off of what she was doing, and
in this way had much less trouble getting her out of bed.
My reader can't imagine how very glad we were to get back to our rooms,
and it was just 10:30 P. M. I was very tired and sleepy, so I undressed
and went to bed at once. I think that as soon as my head touched the
pillow I was asleep.
The following day there was the same thing, the usual audience in the
morning, of course busy all the time, which went on for fifteen days
before I realized it. I began to take great interest in the Court life,
and liked it better every day. Her Majesty was very sweet and kind to us
always, and took us to see the different places in the Summer Palace. We
went to see Her Majesty's farm, situated on the west side of the lake,
and had to cross over a high bridge to get there. This bridge is called
Tu Tai Chiao (Jade Girdle Bridge). Her Majesty often took us under this
bridge in a boat, or we walked round on the border. She seemed very fond
of sitting on the top of this bridge on her stool and taking her tea,
in fact this was one of her favorite places. She used to go and see
her farm once every four or five days, and it always pleased her if
she could take some vegetables and rice or corn from her own farm. She
cooked these things herself in one of the courtyards. I thought that
was good fun, and also turned up my sleeves to help her cook. We brought
fresh eggs also from the farm and Her Majesty taught us how to cook them
with black tea leaves.
Her Majesty's cooking stoves were very peculiar. They were made of
brass, lined with bricks. They could be moved anywhere, for they had
no chimneys. Her Majesty told me to boil the eggs first until they were
hard, and to crack them but to keep the shells on, and add half a cup of
black tea, salt and spices. Her Majesty said: "I like the country life.
It seems more natural than the Court life. I am always glad to see young
people having fun, and not such grand dames when we are by ourselves.
Although I am not young any more, I am still very fond of play." Her
Majesty would taste first what we had been cooking, and would give us
all to taste. She asked: "Do you not think this food has more flavor
than that prepared by the cooks?" We all said it was fine. So we spent
the long days at the Court having good fun.
I saw Emperor Kwang Hsu every morning, and whenever I had the time he
would always ask some words in English. I was surprised to learn that he
knew quite a bit of spelling, too. I found him extremely interesting. He
had very expressive eyes. He was entirely a different person when he was
alone with us. He would laugh and tease, but as soon as he was in the
presence of Her Majesty he would look serious, and as if he were worried
to death. At times he looked stupid. I was told by a great many people
who were presented to him at the different audiences that he did not
look intelligent, and that he would never talk. I knew better, for I
used to see him every day. I was at the Court long enough to study him,
and found him to be one of the most intelligent men in China. He was a
capital diplomat and had wonderful brains, only he had no opportunities.
Now a great many people have asked me the same question, if our Emperor
Kwang Hsu had any courage or brains. Of course outsiders have no idea
how strict the law is, and the way we have to respect our parents. He
was compelled to give up a great many things on account of the law. I
have had many long talks with him and found him a wise man, with
any amount of patience. His life was not a happy one; ever since his
childhood his health was poor. He told me that he never had studied
literature very much, but it came natural to him. He was a born musician
and could play any instrument without studying. He loved the piano, and
was always after me to teach him. There were several beautiful grand
pianos at the Audience Hall. He had very good taste for foreign music,
too. I taught him some easy waltzes and he kept the time beautifully. I
found him a good companion and a good friend, and he confided in me and
told me his troubles and sorrows. We talked a great deal about western
civilization, and I was surprised to learn he was so well informed in
everything. He used to tell me, time after time, his ambitions for the
welfare of his country. He loved his people and would have done anything
to help them whenever there was famine or flood. I noticed that he
felt for them. I know that some eunuchs gave false reports about his
character,--that he was cruel, etc. I had heard the same thing before
I went to the Palace. He was kind to the eunuchs, but there was always
that distinction between the master and the servants. He would never
allow the eunuchs to speak to him unless they were spoken to, and never
listened to any kind of gossip. I lived there long enough, and I know
just what kind of cruel people those eunuchs were. They had no respect
for their master. They came from the lowest class of people from the
country, had no education, no morals, no feeling for anything, not even
between themselves. The outside world has heard so many things against
His Majesty, the Emperor Kwang Hsu's character, but I assure my readers
that these things were told by the eunuchs to their families, and of
course they always stretched it out as far as possible in order to
make the conversation interesting. The majority of the people living in
Peking get all kinds of information through them. I have witnessed the
same thing many a time during my stay at the Palace.
One day during the time of Her Majesty's afternoon rest we heard a
dreadful noise. It sounded just like the firing off of fire-crackers.
Such a noise was quite unusual in the Palace for such things are not
allowed to be brought into the Palace grounds. Of course Her Majesty
woke up. In a few seconds time everyone became excited and were running
to and fro as if the building was on fire. Her Majesty was giving orders
and telling the eunuchs to be quiet, but no one listened to her and kept
yelling and running around like crazy people, all talking at the same
time. Her Majesty was furious and ordered us to bring the yellow bag
to her. (I must explain about this bag. It was made of ordinary yellow
cloth and contained bamboo sticks of all sorts and sizes and are made to
beat the eunuchs, servant girls and old women servants with.) This
bag was carried everywhere Her Majesty went, to be handy in case of
emergency. Everyone of us knew where this bag was kept. We took all the
sticks from the bag and Her Majesty ordered us to go to the courtyard
and beat the eunuchs. It was such a funny sight to see all the Court
ladies and servant girls each with a stick trying to separate the
excited crowd. On my part I thought I was having good fun so I laughed
and found the rest were laughing too. Her Majesty was standing on the
veranda watching us but she was too far away to see well and with all
that noise, we knew she could not hear us laughing. We tried our best
to separate the crowd, but were laughing so much we did not have enough
strength to hurt any of them. All of a sudden all the eunuchs became
quiet and stopped talking, for one of them saw the head eunuch, Li Lien
Ying, followed by all his attendants coming towards them. Everyone
of them became frightened and stood there like statues. We stopped
laughing, too, and turned back each with a stick in our hand, walking
toward Her Majesty. Li Lien Ying was having a nap, too, and had heard
the noise and had come to enquire what the trouble was and to report it
to Her Majesty. It seemed one of the young eunuchs caught a crow. (The
eunuchs hated crows, as they are considered an unlucky bird. The people
in China called eunuchs crows because they were very disagreeable. That
was the reason why the eunuchs hated them so.) They always set traps to
catch them and then tied a huge fire-cracker to their legs, set fire to
the cracker and then set the unfortunate birds free. Naturally the poor
birds would be glad to fly away and by the time the powder exploded
would be high up in the air and the poor bird would be blown to pieces.
It seemed this was not the first time the eunuchs had played this cruel
trick. I was told it always delighted them so much to see blood and
torture. They always invited others to drink some wine with them to
celebrate an occasion such as this. This cruel deed was always done
outside of the wall of the Audience Hall but that day the crow flew
towards Her Majesty's own Palace while she was sleeping and the powder
exploded while the bird was passing the courtyard. After the head eunuch
had told Her Majesty what had happened, she was very angry and ordered
that this young eunuch be brought in and receive punishment in her
presence. I noticed one of the head eunuch's attendants push the culprit
out from the crowd. The head eunuch immediately gave orders to lay this
man on the ground and two eunuchs stood on each side of him and beat him
on his legs with two heavy bamboo sticks one at a time. The victim never
uttered a word while this was going on. The head eunuch counted until
this man had received one hundred blows, then he gave orders to stop.
Then he knelt in front of Her Majesty waiting for her orders and at
the same time kowtowed on the ground until his head made a noise on the
stone steps, asking to be punished for his carelessness and neglect of
duty. Her Majesty said that it was not his fault and ordered him to take
the offender away. During all this time the offender was still on the
ground, and did not dare to move. Two eunuchs each took hold of a foot
and dragged him out of the courtyard. We were all afraid even to breathe
aloud for fear Her Majesty would say that we were pretending to be
frightened at witnessing this punishment, at the same time when it
was over we would go and gossip about how cruel she was. No one was
surprised at what had happened, as we were accustomed to seeing it
almost every day and were quite used to it. I used to pity them, but I
changed my mind very soon after I had arrived.
The first person I saw punished was a servant girl, she had made a
mistake about Her Majesty's socks and had brought two which were not
mates, Her Majesty finding that out, ordered another servant girl to
slap her face ten times on each cheek. This girl did not slap hard
enough, so Her Majesty said they were all good friends and would not
obey her orders, so she told the one who had been slapped to slap the
other. I thought that was too funny for anything and wanted to laugh
the worst way, but of course did not dare. That night I asked those two
girls how they felt slapping each other that way. The reason why I asked
them was because they were laughing and joking as usual immediately they
were out of Her Majesty's bedchamber. They told me that was nothing;
that they were quite used to it and never bothered themselves about such
small things. I in turn soon became used to it, and was as callous as
they were.
Now regarding the servant girls, they are a much better class of people
than the eunuchs. They are the daughters of Manchu soldiers, and must
stay ten years at the Palace to wait upon Her Majesty, and then they are
free to marry. One got married after my first month at the Court. Her
Majesty gave her a small sum of money, five hundred taels. This girl was
so attached to Her Majesty that it was very hard for her to leave
the Court. She was an extremely clever girl. Her name was Chiu Yuen
(Autumn's Cloud). Her Majesty named her that because she was so very
delicate looking and slight. I liked her very much during the short time
that we were together. She told me not to listen to anyone's gossip at
the Court, also that Her Majesty had told her she was very fond of me.
On the twenty-second day of the third moon she left the Palace, and we
were all sorry to lose her. Her Majesty did not realize how much she
missed her until after she had gone. For a few days we had nothing but
troubles. It seemed as if everything went wrong. Her Majesty was not
at all satisfied without Chiu Yuen. The rest of the servant girls were
scared, and tried their best to please Her Majesty, but they had not the
ability, so we had to help and do a part of their work so as not to make
Her Majesty nervous. Unfortunately, she stopped us, and said: "You
have enough to do of your own work, and I do not want you to help the
servants. You don't please me a bit that way." She could see that I was
not accustomed to her ways, for she had spoken severely, so she smiled
and said to me: "I know you are good to help them so as not to make me
angry, but these servants are very cunning. It isn't that they cannot do
their work. They know very well that I always select the clever ones to
wait on me in my bedroom and they don't like that, so they pretend to be
stupid and make me angry so that I will send them to do the common work.
The eunuchs are worse. They are all afraid to take Chiu Yuen's place.
Now I have found them out, and I will only keep the stupid ones to wait
on me from now." I almost laughed when I noticed that they all looked
serious for a moment. I thought these people must be really stupid, and
not lazy, but I had dealings with them every day and found them out all
right. The eunuchs don't seem to have any brains at all. They are such
queer people and have no feelings. They have the same mood all day
long--I should say they are in a cruel mood. Whenever Her Majesty gave
an order they always said "Jer" (Yes) and as soon as they got to our
waiting room they would say to each other: "What was the order? I have
forgotten all about it." Then they used to come to one of us who had
happened to be present when the order was given: "Please tell us what
the order was. I did not listen while Her Majesty was talking." We
used to laugh and make fun of them. We knew they were afraid to ask Her
Majesty, and of course we had to tell them. One of the eunuch writers
had to keep writing down the orders that had been given during the day,
for Her Majesty wanted to keep records of everything. There were twenty
eunuchs who were educated and they were excellent scholars. These had
to answer any questions which Her Majesty happened to ask them about
Chinese literature, while she had a good knowledge of it herself. I
noticed that it pleased her a great deal if anyone could not answer a
question, or knew less than she did. She took delight in laughing at
them. Her Majesty was also very fond of teasing. She knew that the Court
ladies did not know very much about literature, so she used to try it on
us. We had to say something whether it was appropriate to her questions
or not, and that would make her laugh. I was told that Her Majesty did
not like anyone to be too clever, and yet she could not bear stupid
people, so I was rather nervous, and did not know how to act for the
first three weeks I was there, but it did not take me very long to study
her. She certainly admired clever girls, but she did not like those who
would show their cleverness too much. How I won her heart was this way.
Whenever I was with her I used to fix my whole attention on her and
watched her very closely (not staring, for she hated that) and always
carried out her orders properly. I noticed another thing, and that
was that whenever she wanted anything to be brought to her, such as
cigarettes, handkerchief, etc., she would only look at the article and
then look at anyone who happened to be there at the time. (There was
always a table in the room, on which everything she needed for the day
was placed.) I got so used to her habits that after a short time I
knew just what she wanted by looking at her eyes, and I was very seldom
mistaken. This pleased her a great deal. She was strong-minded,
and would always act the way she thought was right, and had perfect
confidence in herself. At times I have seen her looking very sad.
She had strong emotions, but her will was stronger. She could control
herself beautifully, and yet she liked people to sympathize with
her--only by actions, not by words, for she did not like anyone to know
her thoughts. I am sure my readers will think how hard it was to be
the Court lady of Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager of China, but on the
contrary I enjoyed myself very much, as she was so interesting, and I
found that she was not at all difficult to please.
The first day of the fourth moon Her Majesty was worried over the lack
of rain. She prayed every day after the audience for ten days, without
any result. Every one of us kept very quiet. Her Majesty did not even
give any orders that day, and spoke to no one. I noticed that the
eunuchs were scared, so we went without our luncheon. I worked so hard
that morning, and was so hungry--in fact all the Court ladies were.
I felt sorry for Her Majesty. Finally she told me I could go, as
she wanted to rest a while, so we came back to our own quarters. I
questioned our own eunuch Wang as to why Her Majesty was worrying about
rain, for we were having lovely weather then, day after day. He told me
that Lao Fo Yeh (Old Buddha) was worried for the poor farmers, as all
their crops were dead without rain for so long. Wang also reminded me
that it had not rained once since I came to live at the Palace. I did
not realize that it was so long as two months and seven days, and on the
other hand it seemed to me longer than that, for the life was very nice
and pleasant, and Her Majesty was very kind to me, as if she had known
me for years already. Her Majesty took very little food at dinner that
night. There was not a sound anywhere, and everyone kept quiet. The
Young Empress told us to eat as fast as we could, which puzzled me. When
we came back to our waiting room, the Young Empress said to me that Her
Majesty was very much worried for the poor farmers and that she would
pray for rain, and stop eating meat for two or three days. That same
night, before Her Majesty retired, she gave orders that no pigs were to
be slaughtered within the gates of Peking. The reason of this was that
by sacrificing ourselves by not eating meat the Gods would have pity on
us and send rain. She also gave orders that everyone should bathe the
body and wash out the mouth in order that we might be cleansed from
all impurities and be ready to fast and pray to the Gods. Also that the
Emperor should go to the temple inside the Forbidden City, to perform a
ceremony of sacrifice (called Chin Tan). He was not to eat meat or hold
converse with anyone, and to pray to the Gods to be merciful and send
rain to the poor farmers. His Majesty, the Emperor Kwang Hsu, wore a
piece of jade tablet about three inches square, engraved "Chai Chieh"
(the meaning being just like Chin Tan-not to eat meat but to pray three
times a day), both in Manchu and Chinese, and all the eunuchs who went
with the Emperor wore the same kind of tablets. The idea was that
this jade tablet was to remind one to be serious in performing the
ceremonies.
The next morning Her Majesty got up very early and ordered me not
to bring any jewels for her. She dressed herself in great haste. Her
breakfast was very simple that day, just milk and steamed bread. Our own
breakfast was cabbage and rice cooked together, with a little salt. It
was tasteless. Her Majesty did not talk to us at all, except when giving
orders, and so, of course, we kept silent. Her Majesty wore a pale gray
gown, made very plain, with no embroidery or trimmings of any kind.
She wore gray shoes to match, not to mention her gray handkerchief. We
followed her into the hall where a eunuch knelt with a large branch of
willow tree. Her Majesty picked a little bunch of leaves and stuck it
on her head. The Young Empress did the same, and told us to follow her
example. Emperor Kwang Hsu took a branch and stuck it on his hat. After
that Her Majesty ordered the eunuchs and the servant girls to do the
same thing. It was a funny sight, and everyone did look queer with a
bunch of leaves on the head. The head eunuch came and knelt in front of
Her Majesty and said that everything was prepared for the ceremony in
the little pavilion in front of her own palace. She told us that she
preferred to walk, as she was going to pray. It took us only a few
minutes to cross the courtyard. When we arrived at this pavilion I
noticed a large square table was placed in the center of the room. A few
large sheets of yellow paper and a jade slab, containing some vermilion
powder instead of ink, with two little brushes to write with. At each
side of the table stood a pair of large porcelain vases, with two large
branches of willow. Of course no one was allowed to speak, but I was
curious and wanted to find out why everyone had to wear the willow
leaves on the head. Her Majesty's yellow satin cushion was placed in
front of this table. She stood there and took a piece of sandalwood and
placed it in the incense burner filled with live charcoal. The Young
Empress whispered to me to go over and help Her Majesty to burn them.
I placed several pieces in until she told me that was enough. Then Her
Majesty knelt on her cushion, the Young Empress knelt behind her, and we
all knelt in a row behind the Young Empress, and commenced to pray. The
Young Empress taught us that very morning how to say the prayer: "We
worship the Heavens, and beg all the Buddhas to take pity on us and save
the poor farmers from starving. We are willing to sacrifice for them.
Pray Heaven send us rain." We repeated the same prayer three times, and
bowed three times--nine times in all. After that Her Majesty went to her
usual morning audience. It was much earlier than usual that morning for
the Court was returning to the Forbidden City at noon. His Majesty, the
Emperor Kwang Hsu, was to pray at the Forbidden City and Her Majesty
always wanted to accompany him wherever he went. It was nine o'clock in
the morning when the audience was over. She ordered me not to bring any
jewels for her to the Forbidden City this time, for she would not need
them at all. I went to the jewel-room and locked everything up, and
placed the keys in a yellow envelope, sealed it, and placed the envelope
among the others, and gave them to a eunuch who takes care of these
things. We packed all her favorite things. Her gowns were the most
important things to pack, she had so many and it was impossible to take
all. I noticed that the Court lady who was looking after her gowns was
the busiest amongst us. She had to select gowns enough to last four or
five days. She told me that she had selected about fifty different ones.
I told her that Lao Tsu Tsung might stay at the Forbidden City four or
five days, and that she would not need so many gowns. She said it was
safer to bring many, for one was not sure what would be Her Majesty's
idea for the day. Packing at the Court was very simple. Eunuchs brought
many yellow trays, which are made of wood, painted yellow, about five
feet by four feet and one foot deep. We placed a large yellow silk scarf
in the tray, then the gowns, and covered them with a thick yellow cloth.
Everything was packed the same way. It took us about two hours to pack
fifty-six trays. These things always started off first, carried by the
eunuchs. His Majesty, the Emperor Kwang Hsu, the Young Empress and all
the Court ladies, had to kneel on the ground for Her Majesty's sedan
chair to pass the Palace Gate, then we went in search of our own chairs.
The procession as usual was pretty, soldiers marching in front of her
chair, four young Princes riding on horseback on each side of her, and
from forty to fifty eunuchs also on horseback behind her, all dressed in
their official robes. The Emperor's chair and the Young Empress' chair
were of the same color as Her Majesty's. The Secondary wife of the
Emperor had a deep yellow chair. The chairs of the Court ladies were
red, and were carried by four chair bearers, instead of eight like their
Majesties. Our own eunuchs also rode on horseback, behind us. We rode a
long time, it seemed to me, before I noticed the Emperor's chair begin
to descend from the stone-paved road, and we all followed him. I could
see that Her Majesty's chair was still going straight on, and we took a
nearer route to reach Wan Shou Si (The long life temple), to await Her
Majesty's arrival. We alighted from our chairs and started at once to
prepare Her Majesty's tea and her little dishes. I went to help her to
alight, and supported her right arm to mount the steps. Her Majesty
sat on Her Throne, and we placed a table in front of her and my sister
brought her tea. (The custom was, that if she went anywhere, or during
the festivals, we must bring to her everything, instead of the eunuchs.)
We placed all the dainties in front of her, and then we went to rest.
Her Majesty always stopped at this temple on the way from the Summer
Palace to the Forbidden City.
CHAPTER TEN--THE YOUNG EMPRESS
I THOUGHT of so many things while I was riding in my chair. It was a
glorious day. I felt sorry for Her Majesty, for she was very quiet
that day. Generally she was happy, and made everyone laugh with her. I
thought about the branches of willow, too, but could not understand the
meaning. I came out of the hall while Her Majesty was dining with the
Emperor, and found the Young Empress sitting in a small room on the left
side of the courtyard, with several Court ladies. When they saw me they
made signs for me to go there. I found them all drinking tea, and the
Young Empress said to me, "I am sure you must be tired and hungry.
Come and sit near me and have a cup of tea." I thanked her and sat down
beside her and we talked of what we saw on the roads and how we had
enjoyed our long ride. She said: "We have still an hour's ride before
we reach the Forbidden City." She also talked about the ceremony we
had performed that morning and said that we must all pray earnestly for
rain. I could not wait any longer, so I asked her what those branches of
willow meant. She smiled and told me that willow could bring water, as
the Buddhist religion believes, and that it was an old custom of the
Court wearing willow leaves, when praying for rain. She also told me
that we must perform the same ceremony every morning until the rain
came.
We heard Her Majesty talking in the courtyard, and knew that she had
finished her luncheon, so we went in with the Young Empress, and ate
what was left, as usual. I found the food very nice indeed, although it
seemed rather funny without having meat. We came out into the courtyard
and saw that Her Majesty was walking up and down. She said to us: "My
legs are so stiff, riding in the chair. I must walk a little before we
leave here. Are you all tired?" We told her that we were not tired, so
she ordered us to walk with her. It looked very funny to see us walking
round and round, Her Majesty in front, and we following her. Her Majesty
turned and smiled at us, and said: "We are just like horses taking their
rounds at a stable." It reminded me of a circus. Li Lien Ying came and
knelt down, and said that it was time for Her Majesty to depart, in
order to reach the Forbidden City at the lucky hour she had selected, so
we left Wan Shou Si. All the chairs went very fast, and after an hour's
ride we came near the Palace Gate. We followed the Emperor's chair,
taking a shorter route, and noticed the gate was wide open. His Majesty,
the Emperor, and the Young Empress' chairs went in, but we had to alight
and walk in. There were small chairs waiting for us. (As I explained
before these little chairs were carried by eunuchs, with a rope across
their shoulders.) We came to the courtyard of the Audience Hall where
the Emperor and the Empress were waiting for us. As usual His Majesty
knelt in front. Behind him was the Young Empress, and we knelt in a row
behind her, waiting to welcome Her Majesty to her Palace. She went to
her room where the eunuchs had placed everything in order long before
her arrival. We held the ceremony that afternoon and evening. After Her
Majesty had retired we came back to our rooms and found that everything
was in order, our eunuchs had made up our beds already. It was very nice
to have them, for we could not do our own work at all. I was so tired
and my limbs were stiff. I immediately went to sleep and did not realize
how long I had slept until I heard someone knocking at my window. I got
up and pulled the blind away. I noticed that the sky looked dull and
thought it was clouded. I felt happy, and thought it might rain, and
so relieve Her Majesty. I got dressed in great haste, but much to my
disappointment I saw the sunshine on the opposite windows.
The Palace in the Forbidden City was so old, and built in such a queer
way. The courtyards were small, and the verandas very broad. All the
rooms were dark. No electric light. We had to use candle light. One
could not see the sky except by going into the courtyard and looking
up. I found that I had risen before the sun was up, and I was not quite
awake yet, and thought the sky was clouded. I went to Her Majesty's own
Palace and found the Young Empress already there. She was always the
first and always looked so tidy I often wondered how early she had to
get up. She told me that I was not late, although Her Majesty was
awake but not up yet. I went into her bedroom and made my usual morning
courtesy to her. The first thing she asked me was about the weather. I
had to tell her the truth--that there was no sign of rain. Her Majesty
got up, dressed, and had her breakfast as usual, and told us there
would be no audience that morning. The Emperor went to the Temple,
sacrificing, and there was nothing important to attend to. We prayed for
three days in succession, but no rain came. I found that Her Majesty was
truly discouraged, and ordered each of us to pray twenty times a day.
We marked a spot with vermilion powder and a little water on big yellow
sheets of paper each time we prayed.
On the sixth day of the fourth moon the sky was clouded. I ran to Her
Majesty's bedroom that morning to tell her the news, but found that
someone had told her already. She smiled, and said to me: "You are not
the first one to give me the good news. I know everyone of you wanted to
be the first to tell me. I feel very tired today, and wish to lie down
a little longer. You can go, and I will send for you when I am ready
to get up." When I went to search for the Young Empress I found all the
Court ladies there also. They all asked me if I had noticed the rain. We
came out of the waiting room and found that the courtyard was wet, and
after a while it rained very fast. Her Majesty got up, and we prayed as
usual. Fortunately the rain did not stop, but came pouring down all that
day.
Her Majesty played solitaire with the dominoes, and I stood at the back
of her chair watching her. I saw that the Young Empress and all the
girls were standing on the veranda. Her Majesty saw them, too, and said
to me: "Go and tell them to wait in the waiting room. Can't they
see that the veranda is wet?" I went to them, but before I had the
opportunity of telling them anything the Young Empress told me that the
waiting room was wet, and that the water had gone in. As I said before,
this building was very old, and there were no drains at all. Her
Majesty's own Palace was high; it had twelve steps, while our waiting
room, which was on the left side of her Palace, was built right on the
ground, with no raised foundation at all. While I was talking on the
veranda just for a few minutes, I got quite wet. Her Majesty knocked at
her glass window and told us to go in. Now I must explain that none of
us, not even the Young Empress could enter Her Majesty's Palace without
her orders except we had work to do there, or were on duty. Her Majesty
was very happy that day. She laughed and said that we looked as if we
had just been pulled out of the lake. The Young Empress had on a pale
blue gown, and the red tassel on her headdress was dripping red water
all over her gown. She smiled and said to us: "Look at those girls;
their gowns are all spoiled." While we were talking, Her Majesty gave us
orders for us to change our clothes.
After they had gone, I went back to Her Majesty. She looked at me and
said: "You are wet also, only your clothes do not show." I had on a
cashmere dress which was made very plain. She touched my arm and said:
"How wet you are. You had better change, and put on a thick dress. I
think foreign clothes must be very uncomfortable; the waist is too small
and it seems to me out of proportion to the rest of the body. I am
sure that you will look much prettier in our Manchu gown. I want you to
change and put your Parisian clothes away as souvenirs. I only wanted to
know how foreign ladies dressed and now I have seen enough. The Dragon
Boat Festival will be here next month and I will make some pretty gowns
for you." I thanked her by kowtowing to the ground and told her that
I would be only too pleased to change into Manchu clothes, but having
lived so many years abroad, and having always worn foreign clothes,
I had not had any made. We were planning to change into Manchu gowns
before coming to the Court, but we had received orders that Lao Tsu
Tsung wished to see us in foreign clothes. I was very glad when I
received that order as there were several reasons why I wanted to wear
Manchu gowns. First, the Court ladies at the beginning treated us as
outsiders. Secondly, I knew that Her Majesty did not like them, and
besides, we were very uncomfortable living at the Palace in Peking, and
made up our minds that we must wear Manchu clothes, which were made for
it. We had so much work to do, and having to stand most of the time one
absolutely needed loose garments. Her Majesty ordered one of the eunuchs
to bring one of her dresses for me to try on, so I went back to my own
room, and took off my wet clothes and changed. I tried on her gown, but
it was too loose for me. The length was quite all right and so were the
sleeves. Her Majesty told one of the eunuch writers to write down my
measurements in order to have a gown made for me, and said she was sure
it would fit me. She did the same thing for my mother and sister, and
ordered our gowns to be made at once. I knew she was pleased, as she
told me what color would suit me the best. She said that I should always
wear pink and pale blue, for they suited, and were her favorite colors,
too. She also talked about our headdress, and ordered some made the same
as worn by the other Court ladies. She said to me: "I know you can
wear my shoes, for I tried yours on the first day you came, don't you
remember? I must select a lucky day for you to become a Manchu once
more," she said this with a smile, "and no more foreign clothes after
that." She took her special book for lucky days and hours, and studied
it a little while, then she said the eighteenth of that month was the
best. Li Lien Ying, the head eunuch knew how to please Her Majesty, and
said he would give orders to have everything ready for us at that time.
Her Majesty told us the way we must have our hair dressed, and what kind
of flowers we should wear, in fact she was very happy arranging to make
us into Manchus. A short while after she dismissed us for the day. It
rained for three days without stopping. The last day the Emperor came
back, and all ceremonies ceased. Her Majesty never liked to stay in the
Forbidden City, and I was not a bit surprised, as I hated the place.
We had to use candles to dress by, in the morning, as the rooms were in
absolute darkness even in the middle of the afternoon. It rained so much
that finally Her Majesty said she would return to the Summer Palace the
next day, whether it was raining or not, and we were all very glad to
go.
We returned to the Summer Palace on the seventh. It was a dull day, but
no rain. We packed everything in just the same way we had done when
we came, and stopped at Wan Shou Si and had our luncheon. That day we
commenced to eat meat again. I noticed that Her Majesty enjoyed her meal
very much. She asked me if I liked the food without meat, and I told her
that everything was nicely done and that I enjoyed the food very much,
although without meat. She told me that she could not eat that kind of
food and enjoy it, and that if it were not necessary to make sacrifice
she would not have abstained.
The first garden party of the year was given by the Empress Dowager to
the ladies of the Diplomatic Corps, in the fourth moon. This year Her
Majesty desired to deviate a little from previous custom, and issued
orders that stalls should be arranged in the garden, on a similar
principal to a bazaar, on which were to be displayed curios, embroidered
work, flowers, etc., etc. These were to be given as presents to the
guests. The guests were: Mrs. Conger, wife of the American Minister,
Mrs. Williams, wife of Chinese Secretary of the American Legation,
Madame and Mademoiselle de Carcer, wife and daughter of the Spanish
Minister, Madame Uchida, wife of the Japanese Minister, and a few ladies
of the Japanese Legation, Madame Almeida, wife of the Portuguese
Charge d' Affaires, Madame Cannes, wife of the Secretary of the French
Legation, the wives of several French Officers, Lady Susan Townley,
wife of the First Secretary of the British Legation, two ladies from the
German Legation, wives of German Officers, and wives of a few Customs
Officials. On this occasion Her Majesty selected a most beautiful gown
of peacock blue, embroidered all over with phoenix. The embroidery was
raised and each phoenix had a string of pearls two inches long sewed
into its mouth. Whenever Her Majesty stirred, these strings of tiny
pearls moved forwards and backwards and it made a very pretty effect.
Of course, she wore her jade phoenix on her hair as usual and shoes
and handkerchief embroidered with the same pattern. My mother wore a
lavender silk gown, trimmed with silver braid, her hat was of the same
shade with plumes to match. My sister and myself wore pale blue Chinese
silk gowns with insertion and medallions of Irish crochet and trimmed
with tiny velvet bands. We wore blue hats with large pink roses. All the
Court ladies dressed in their most picturesque gowns and it was a very
pretty sight to see the procession walking to the Audience Hall.
Her Majesty was in her happiest mood that morning and said to us: "I
wonder how I would look in foreign clothes; my waist is very small, but
wearing this kind of loose gown it would not show. I don't think I would
need to squeeze myself so tight, either, but I don't think there is
anything in the world prettier than our Manchu gowns."
First the guests were received in audience by Their Majesties. They were
accompanied by the Doyen, Baron Czikann, Minister for Austria, and an
interpreter from each Legation. On entering the Audience Hall all the
guests stood in line and the Doyen presented a short address to
Their Majesties. This was translated to Prince Ching, who, in turn,
communicated it to the Emperor. The Emperor made a suitable reply in
Chinese which was translated by the Doyen's interpreter. Then the Doyen
mounted the steps of the dais and shook hands with Their Majesties, the
rest of the guests being presented in turn. I was standing at the right
hand of the Empress Dowager and as each guest came forward, called out
their names, and the Legation which they represented. Her Majesty had
a few words for everyone, and when she saw a new face she would ask how
long they had been in China; whether they liked it, etc., etc. All these
conversations I interpreted for Her Majesty. As the guests finished
paying their respects they passed along and remained standing in the
Hall until everybody had been presented.
The interpreters, who did not take part in this ceremony but had
remained standing in the Hall until it was over, were then conducted
by Prince Ching to another part of the Palace, where refreshments were
provided for them. After they had gone out Their Majesties descended
from the dais and mixed with the guests.
The formal ceremony now being concluded, chairs were brought in and
everybody made themselves comfortable. Tea was brought in by the
eunuchs and after a few minutes' conversation, we all adjourned to
the refreshment room, with the exception of the Empress Dowager, the
Emperor, the Young Empress and the Secondary wife. In the absence of Her
Majesty, the Imperial Princess (The Empress Dowager's adopted daughter)
officiated as hostess, Mrs. Conger sitting at her right and Madame de
Carcer, wife of the Spanish Minister, on her left. The food was all
Chinese, but knives and forks were provided for the use of the guests.
During the luncheon the Imperial Princess stood up and spoke a few
words of welcome, which I translated into English and French. After the
luncheon was over we adjourned to the garden where Their Majesties were
awaiting us. A brass band was playing European airs.
Her Majesty led the way around the gardens, passing the various stalls
on the way, where the ladies would stop and admire the different
articles, which were later presented to them as souvenirs of the
occasion. On arriving at a teahouse which had been erected in the
gardens, everybody rested and partook of tea. Their Majesties then
wished everybody good-bye and the guests were then conducted to their
chairs and took their departure.
As usual, we reported to Her Majesty everything that had taken place and
how the guests had enjoyed themselves. She said: "How is it that these
foreign ladies have such large feet? Their shoes are like boats and
the funny way they walk I cannot say I admire. I haven't yet seen one
foreigner with pretty hands. Although they have white skins, their faces
are covered with white hair. Do you think they are beautiful?" I replied
that I had seen some American beauties when I was abroad. Her Majesty
said: "No matter how beautiful they are they have ugly eyes. I can't
bear that blue color, they remind me of a cat." After a few more
remarks, she ordered us to retire, saying that we must be tired. We
were rather used up and glad of an opportunity to rest, so made our
courtesies and retired.
We had been at the Palace more than two months, and I had had no
opportunity to see my father at all, who was quite ill at that time.
We did not know whether we could ask leave of absence from the Court. I
received letters from my father every day, telling me to have courage,
and to do my duty. My mother asked the Young Empress if it would be
correct to ask Her Majesty for permission to go home for a day or two.
The Young Empress told us that it would be quite all right to do that,
but she thought it would be better if we could wait until after the
eighth, for there would be a feast on that day. The eighth day of the
fourth moon every year is the ceremony of eating green peas. According
to the Buddhist religion there is a hereafter which divides or grades,
according to the life that is lived on earth, that is to say, those who
live good lives go to Heaven when they die and those who are bad go to a
bad place to suffer. On this occasion Her Majesty sent to the people she
liked, each a plate containing eight peas, and we had to eat them. The
Young Empress told me that if I presented a plate of peas to Her Majesty
it would please her, which I did. This meant: "May we meet in the
hereafter" (Chi Yuen Dou). Her Majesty was very happy that day. We went
to the west side of the lake and had our luncheon there. Her Majesty
talked to us about the first day we came to the Court, and then said to
mother: "I wonder if Yu Keng is any better. When will he be able to come
to the Court? I haven't seen him since he returned from France." (My
father had asked three months leave of absence from the Court on account
of his poor health.) My mother answered and said that he was feeling
better, but that his legs were still very weak, and he could not walk
much. Her Majesty then said to us: "Oh, I have forgotten to tell you
that if you wish to go home, you can ask permission. I have been so busy
lately, and forgot to remind you." We thanked her and told her that we
would like to go home and see how my father was, so she gave orders that
we should leave the Court the next day. Then she asked me how long I
would like to stay at home, and of course I knew the custom, and told
her that I was waiting for her orders: "Would two or three days be
enough?" We told her that it suited us beautifully. I was so surprised
when she mentioned it to us, and wondered if anyone had told her of our
intentions, or if Her Majesty was a mind reader.
When she retired that afternoon I went to see the Young Empress, who
was always very nice and kind, and asked me to sit near her. Her eunuch
brought me a cup of tea. Her rooms were furnished exactly the same as
Her Majesty's, but everything looked extremely dainty, and showed very
good taste. We talked about the life at the Palace for a long time, and
she told me that she was very fond of us, and so was Her Majesty. I told
her that Her Majesty had mentioned to us about going home for two or
three days and that I was surprised to see how thoughtful she was. She
said that someone had reminded Her Majesty to let us go home, for we had
been at the Court for more than two months. I found out afterwards that
it was the head eunuch Li who had heard that we were anxious to go. The
Young Empress said to me: "I want to teach you to be wise, that is,
you are ordered to leave the Court to-morrow, but Her Majesty did not
mention any particular hour. You must not talk about it to anyone, and
don't show that you are excited to go home. Don't dress as if you are
going out to-morrow, but be natural and do your work as if you don't
care about going at all. Don't you remind her, in case she forgets to
tell you to go, and come back on the second day, which is the custom. It
will show that you are anxious to see Her Majesty, so you come back
one day earlier than the appointed time." I was so happy to get this
information and asked her if it would be all right to bring Her Majesty
some presents when we returned to the Court. She said that was just the
proper thing to do. The next day we did the same work, and went to the
Audience Hall with Her Majesty, as usual. After the audience was over
Her Majesty ordered her luncheon to be served at the country teahouse.
This teahouse was built in country style, and right on top of her peony
mountain, with bamboo and straw, and all the furniture was made of
bamboo also. They were beautifully made, and the frames of the
windows were carved into a line of characters--Shou (long life), and
butterflies, with pink silk curtain hangings. At the rear of this
exquisite little building was a bamboo shade, with railings all around,
hung with red silk lanterns. The seats were built against the railings,
so that one could sit on them comfortably. This was supposed to be
used by the Court ladies as their waiting room. We played dice with Her
Majesty when luncheon was over. We played a very long time, and I won
the game that day. Her Majesty laughed and said to me: "You have luck
to-day. I think you are so happy to go home that your fairies have
helped you to win the game." As I mentioned before, this game was called
"Eight Fairies Going across the Sea." "I think it is time for you to go
now." While saying this she turned and asked one of the eunuchs what the
time was, and he answered that it was half-past two. We kowtowed to Her
Majesty, and stood waiting for more orders. Then she said: "I am sorry
to see you go although I know you are coming back within two or three
days. I know I shall miss you." To my mother she said: "Tell Yu Keng to
take care of his health and get well soon. I have ordered four eunuchs
to accompany you, and am sending some of my own rice for him." We had
to kowtow again in thanking Her Majesty for her kindness and finally she
said: "Nemen tzowba" (you can go now).
We withdrew, and found the Young Empress on the veranda. We courtesied
to her, and said good-bye to the Court ladies and came to our rooms
to get ready to start. Our eunuchs were very good, and had everything
packed up ready for us. We gave ten taels to each of our eunuchs, for
that was the custom, and gave four taels to each chair bearer of the
Palace. When we arrived at the Palace Gate our own chairs were waiting
for us. We said good-bye to our eunuchs. Strange to say they seemed
attached to us and told us to come back soon. The four eunuchs ordered
by Her Majesty to see us home were there, and as soon as we got into our
chairs I saw them riding on horseback beside us. It seemed to me just
like a dream the two months I had spent at the Court, and I must say I
felt very sorry to leave Her Majesty, but at the same time I wanted very
much to see my father. We got home after a two hours' ride, and found
him looking much better, and one can imagine how happy he was to see us.
The four eunuchs came into our parlor, and placed the yellow bag of rice
on the table. My father thanked Her Majesty by kowtowing to the ground.
We gave these eunuchs each a little present, and they departed.
I told my father about my life at the Palace, and how very kind Her
Majesty was to me. He asked me if I could influence Her Majesty to
reform some day, and hoped he would live to see it. Somehow or other I
had the idea that I could and promised him that I would try my best.
Her Majesty sent two eunuchs to see us the next morning, and also sent
us food and fruits. They told us that Her Majesty missed us, and had
told them to ask if we missed her. We told these eunuchs that we were
returning to the Court the next day. We stayed at home only two days and
a great many people came to see us, and kept us busy all the time. My
father suggested that we should start from the house at about 3:00 A.
M., so as to get to the Summer Palace before Her Majesty was up. We left
our house at 3:00 A. M. in total darkness, just like we had two months
before. What a change. I thought I was the happiest girl in the world.
I was told by many people, especially by the Young Empress, that Her
Majesty was extremely fond of me. I had also heard that she did not care
for young people at all. Although I was happy, I noticed that some of
the Court ladies did not like me, and they made me uncomfortable on many
occasions by not telling me just the way Her Majesty wanted the work to
be done. They smiled to each other whenever Her Majesty was saying to
my mother that she liked me, and that I was always careful in doing
anything that pleased her. I knew I was going to see those people again.
However, I made up my mind to fight my battles alone. I only wished to
be useful to Her Majesty, and would not take any notice of them.
It was a little after five o'clock when we reached the Summer Palace.
Our own eunuchs were very happy to see us again and told us that Her
Majesty was not up yet and that we had time to go to our rooms, where
they had some breakfast prepared for us. We went to see the Young
Empress first, and found she was ready to go to Her Majesty's Palace.
She was also very glad to see us, and told us that our Manchu costumes
were all ready, and that she had seen them and they were perfectly
lovely. We were very hungry, and enjoyed our breakfast immensely. After
that we went to see Her Majesty. She was awake, so we went into her
bedroom. We greeted her the same way that we did every morning, and
kowtowed to her and thanked her for all the things she had sent us while
we were at home. She sat up on the bed, smiled, and said: "Are you glad
to come back? I know everyone who comes to me and stays for a while
does not like to go away from here any more. I am glad to see you (to
my mother). How is Yu Keng?" My mother told her that my father was much
better. She asked us what we did for those two days, staying at home.
She also wanted to know whether we still remembered which day she had
chosen for us to change into our Manchu costume. We told her we knew the
date, and were looking forward to it. The eunuchs brought in three
large yellow trays, full of beautiful gowns, shoes, white silk socks,
handkerchiefs, bags for nuts, in fact the whole set, including the gu'un
dzan (Manchu headdress). We kowtowed to her, and told her we were very
much pleased with everything she had given us. Her Majesty told the
eunuchs to bring everything out for us to see. She said to us: "You see
I give you one full official dress, one set of Chao Chu (amber heads),
two embroidered gowns, four ordinary gowns for everyday wear, and two
gowns for Chi Chen wear (the anniversary of the death of an Emperor or
Empress), one sky blue, the other mauve, with very little trimming.
I also have a lot of underwear for you." I was excited and told Her
Majesty that I would like to commence to dress up at once. She smiled,
and said: "You must wait until the day comes, the lucky day I have
selected for you. You must try to fix your hair first, which is the most
difficult thing to do. Ask the Young Empress to teach you." Although
she told me to wait, I knew she was pleased to see that I showed so much
enthusiasm. She asked me the first day when we came to the Court why
my hair was so curly. I showed her that I curled it with paper, and she
teased me ever afterwards. She also said that I could not pull my hair
straight in time to wear Manchu clothes, that everyone would laugh at
me, and how ugly I would look. That night one Court lady came over to me
while I was sitting on the veranda and said: "I wonder if you will look
nice in Manchu dress?" I told her I only wanted to look natural. "You
have lived so many years abroad we consider you are a foreigner to us."
I told her that as long as Her Majesty considered I was one of her own,
I would be satisfied and that she need not worry herself about me. I
knew they were jealous of us, so I went in search of the Young Empress
and left this girl alone. We were talking with the Young Empress in the
waiting room, and this girl came in and sat near me, smiling to herself
most of the time. One of the servant girls was fixing some fresh flowers
for Her Majesty. She looked at her and asked her why she was smiling.
The Young Empress saw, and asked her the same question. She would not
answer, but kept on smiling all the time. At this moment a eunuch came
and said that Her Majesty wanted me. I afterwards tried to find out what
she had told the Young Empress but could not. Several days passed very
quietly. Her Majesty was happy, and so was I. One day the Young Empress
reminded us that we should make all preparations in order to be able
to dress ourselves properly on the eighteenth, as the time was getting
short--only two days left. That night, after Her Majesty had retired, I
went to my own room and fixed my headdress on and went to see the Young
Empress. She said that I looked very nice, and that she was sure Her
Majesty would like me better in Manchu costume. I told her that I used
to wear Manchu dress when I was a little girl, before we went to Europe,
and of course I knew how to put it on. I also told her that I could not
understand why these girls looked upon me as a foreigner. She said that
they only showed their ignorance, and that they were jealous of me and I
should not pay any attention to them at all.
CHAPTER ELEVEN--OUR COSTUMES
THE next day we got up earlier than usual and dressed ourselves in our
new gowns. I could not believe my own eyes, and asked several times
whether that was myself or not. I found that I looked all right,
although I hadn't been wearing this sort of costume for so long.
They seemed to think that we would look awkward. Our own eunuchs were
delighted to see us dressed that way. The Young Empress came in while
passing our rooms on her way to the Empress Dowager's Palace, and waited
for us to go with her. When we arrived at the waiting room a lot of
people came in and looked at us, and talked so much about us, that it
made me feel rather shy. Everyone told us that we looked much better
that way than in foreign clothes, except the Emperor Kwang Hsu. He
said to me: "I think your Parisian gowns are far prettier than this."
I smiled and said nothing. He shook his head at me, and went into Her
Majesty's bedroom. Li Lien Ying came and saw us, and was very much
excited and told me to go and see Her Majesty at
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